War Pigs
by zcross1997
Summary: Enemies of the Kids Next Door have used ideological warfare that nearly rips the world apart in a 3-way war between the Kids Next Door, Galactic Kids Next Door, and Earth Villains. A prequel/ sequel to "In Time".
1. The Teams

Disclaimer: I don't own Kids Next Door. They characters are creations of Tom Warburton. I also do not own any of the songs that are going to be used in the story.

The Teams

**KND Global/ Ground Force Command**

Numbuh 3; aka Kuki Sanban

Numbuh 4; aka Wallabee Beetles

Numbuh 5; aka Abigail Lincoln

Numbuh 83; aka Sonia May

Numbuh 84; aka Lee Witherton

Numbuh 86; aka Fanny Fulbright

**Sector Z**

Numbuh 0.1; aka Bruce Perry

Numbuh 0.2; aka David Mathers

Numbuh 0.3; aka Ashley Perry

Numbuh 0.4; aka Lenny del Rio

Numbuh 0.5; aka Constance Jackson

Numbuh 1; aka Nigel Uno

Numbuh 362; aka Rachel T. McKenzie

**The Air Berets**

Numbuh 2; aka Hoagie P. Gilligan, Jr.

Numbuh T; aka Tommy Gilligan

The Kid; aka Ace Ferrara

Henrietta von Marzipan

**The Basterdz**

Numbuh 9; aka Maurice Phayton

Numbuh 60; aka Patton Drilovsky

Numbuh 274; aka Chad Dickson


	2. Staying Close

It was night time, Sector V (minus Numbuh 1) was flying back to the treehouse with Numbuh 1's parents (still recommissioned).

They had just competed in and won the Scavenger Hunt set up by Numbuh 74.239. They had just barely escaped from the wrath of Father. They had just said goodbye to their best friend; and for his parents, their only child.

He was off to fight alongside the Galactic Kids Next Door, the first operative from Earth to ever do so. Though they were told he was never come back, some had held out hope that they would see their friend again. It was a sullen ride back to the treehouse, when they dropped of Numbuh 1's parents, the legendary KND former operatives Numbuh 0 and Numbuh 999.

Stepping out of the vehicle, Numbuh 0 (aka Monty Uno) turned back to face his son's best friends. "I suppose we'll see you tomorrow then." Monty says.

"Um... sure, I guess. What's gonna happen after the recommissioning wears off? How they gonna explain what happened?" Numbuh 5 asks nervously.

"My dear, the Galactic operatives set up a system. When we wake up tomorrow, it will seem as if Nigel is at boarding school." Katherine Uno informs Numbuh 5. She is visibly upset and trying to hold back tears. Monty puts his arm on his wife's shoulder.

"Come dear, let's go inside." Monty leads his wife into the house and turns back to face Sector V. "Children, you may feel free to use the treehouse as much as you want. You are always welcome in our home. Stay close to each other, you'll need to be." Monty informs them.

"Thanks Mr. Uno, have a goodnight." Numbuh 5 waves goodbye to Numbuh 1's parents.

Numbuh 2 takes the ship back up to the treehouse and parks it in his bedroom. Nobody says a word as they are still very sullen. Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 4 join hands and walk into the living room. Numbuhs 2 and 5 walk hand in hand to Numbuh 1's room, opening the door and turning on the light. Looking sadly into it, they both hang their heads and turn off the light. Numbuh 5 closes the door and turns to Numbuh 2.

"Nobody goes in his room. It's off limits from now on." Numbuh 5 informs him.

"I understand. Should I set something to stop anyone from going in there?" Numbuh 2 suggests.

"No, we leave it as is." Numbuh 5 responds.

"Leave it as is until he gets back?" Numbuh 2 asks.

"Yeah we… wait. You know he ain't comin' back right?" Numbuh 5 asks him curiously.

"Well… I didn't want to say anything in front of Galactic. Would've taken it away if they saw it." Numbuh 2 pulls out a small device with a star gazer like tracker.

"W-what is this?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"I figured, Numbuh 1 leaving won't go unanswered by Global Command. I thought maybe if I snuck the tracker into the bag of stuff I gave him, we could always know where he is." Numbuh 2 explains.

"Why didn't you show me this earlier?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"Well, I wanted to wait for the right time. I thought with Galactic being so secretive, they wouldn't want us knowing that we know where to find them. I would've mentioned it on the ship when we dropped his parents off, but they wouldn't remember anyway." Numbuh 2 explains to Numbuh 5, who is awestruck. Tears are forming in her eyes and her mouth hung open.

"Look, I'm sorry if this isn't enough but…" Numbuh 2 is interrupted by Numbuh 5 wrapping her arms around him and crushing his lips with hers.

"You (kiss) are (kiss) a (kiss) god (kiss) genius (kiss)!" Numbuh exclaims giving him a stronger kiss with each word she yells.

"But, we still don't have Numbuh 1 here. How can you say…" Numbuh 2 is interrupted once again by Numbuh 5, who puts a finger on his lips.

"Sssh. You did more than you could possibly know, baby. That's why Numbuh 5 loves ya." Numbuh 5 says.

"I love you, too." Numbuh 2 says, before giving her a kiss.

"Come with me." Numbuh 5 takes his hand and the two then walk to her room.

"What do you want in here?" Numbuh 2 asks.

"Would you spend the night in here? Numbuh 5 don't wanna be alone right now." Numbuh explains.

"Course I will. I don't wanna be alone either." Numbuh 2 replies.

The two of them plop down on her couch, Numbuh 2 notices a guitar and picks it up.

"You mind?" Numbuh 2 asks.

"Knock yourself out." Numbuh 5 says.

Numbuh 2 tunes the guitar and begins to play the tune of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here."

(Numbuh 2)

So, so you think you can tell

Heaven from hell

Blue skies from pain

Can you tell a green field

From a cold steel rail?

A smile from a veil?

(Numbuh 5)

Do you think you can tell?

Did they get you to trade

Your heroes for ghosts?

Hot ashes for trees?

Hot air for a cool breeze?

Cold comfort for change?

Did you exchange

A walk on part in the war

For a lead role in a cage?

(Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 5)

How I wish, how I wish you were here

We're just two lost souls

Swimming in a fish bowl

Year after year

Running over the same old ground

And how we found

The same old fears

Wish you were here

After the song is over, Numbuh 2 puts the guitar down. Numbuh 5 takes off her hat and her shoes and cuddles up next Numbuh 2.

"Goodnight, Hoagie." Numbuh 5 says, taking off his hat and kissing his forehead. She then falls asleep with her arms wrapped around him.

"Goodnight, Abby." Numbuh 2 says back. He then leans back into the couch and drifts off to sleep. Both operatives are tired from the long eventful day they've had.

Meanwhile in the living room, Numbuh 4 is still upset from the events of the day. Numbuh 3 is trying to comfort him.

"Numbuh 4? Are you okay?" Numbuh 3 asks, and not in her usual bubbly way.

"I'm fine, Numbuh 3. I just… I don't know." Numbuh 4 answers.

"Listen, if you wanna talk I'm here for you." Numbuh 3 tells him.

"Kuki, please. I just need to be alone right now." Numbuh 4 says, brushing off her offer for support. He seems on the brink of tears, but is trying to hide it from Numbuh 3.

"But Mr. Uno said that we need to stay close." Numbuh 3 reminds Numbuh 4.

"I am close with you, we're always fighting on the same team together." Numbuh 4 replies callously.

"That's not what he meant, Wally." Numbuh 3 replies sternly.

"Then how?" Numbuh 4 asks.

"I don't know." Numbuh 3 says sullenly. She then notices a guitar sitting in the corner, picks it up and walks back over to Numbuh 4. Numbuh 4 is looking at a picture of him and Numbuh 1, still on the verge of tears. She begins to play the tune of "In My Life" by The Beatles. Numbuh 4 is reluctant to join in but eventually does.

(Numbuh 3)

There are places I'll remember

All my life, though some have changed

Some forever, not for better

Some have gone, and some remain

All these places had their moments

With lovers and friends, I still can recall

Some are dead, and some are living

In my life, I've loved them all

(Numbuh 4)

But of all these friends and lovers

There is no one compares with you

And these memories lose their meaning

When I think of love as something new

Though I know I'll never lose affection

For people and things that went before

I know I'll often stop and think about them

In my life, I'll love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection

For people and things that went before

I know I'll often stop and think about them

In my life I'll love you more

(Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 4)

In my life I'll love you more

When the song ends, Numbuh 4 breaks down crying. He then buries his face into her chest. She strokes his head in an attempt to soothe him.

"Ssh. It's okay I got you." Numbuh 3 says soothingly.

"I'm sorry, Kuki. I… I… I just miss him already!" Numbuh 4 says through sobs.

"This is why I'm here, Wally. Numbuh 1 may be gone, but I'm here for you." Numbuh 3 soothes.

Numbuh 4 stops crying, but is still holding on tight to Numbuh 3. She looks down at him and he looks down at her and their eyes lock. Numbuh 4 smiles, feeling at complete bliss in this moment with Numbuh 3.

Feeling exhausted from the day, Numbuh 3 lies down on the couch with Numbuh 4 cuddled up to her like a big teddy bear.

Though Sector V is unsure when they will see their comrade again, they are certain that they will always have each other to look out for.

End of Chapter 2.

Please read and review. The tracker that Numbuh 2 snuck into Numbuh 1's bag is going to be hugely important later on. Next chapter will be up as soon as possible. That chapter is going to be focused on Numbuh 1 first joining Galactic. Hope you guys enjoy in so far, and what will come ahead.


	3. Welcome to Galactic

The ship was leaving Earth's atmosphere. Numbuh 1, aka Nigel Uno was just named Earth's first KND operative to join the Galactic Kids Next Door. As far as he is concerned, this will be his new life. Several alien worlds from the tyranny of adulthood. As far as he knows, he will never be able to see his friends and family again. He is sad to leave everything behind. As he passes by the Moonbase, there was one more person he wishes he could have said goodbye to. It didn't matter now, the last time they saw each other ended in an argument anyway. As far as Numbuh 1 knows, she may not have been sad to see him go. But that isn't what's important to him right now. What is important is for him to adjust to his new life and the strangers he will have to meet.

The ship he is on is now on course to meet a much larger Mothership, where the rest of the Galactic operatives are based. Currently, he is with Numbuh 74.239 walking through the corridors to meet other operatives.

"Are you feeling better okay, Numbuh 1?" Numbuh 74.239 asks.

"I'm fine. It's just… I'm still not quite used to the idea of being in space away from my friends and family. I'm going to miss them." Numbuh 1 replies sullenly.

"I know it's going to be hard for you. But the work you are doing to help them is honorable. Trust me, you'll fit in great here at Galactic." Numbuh 74.239 says, putting his hand on Numbuh 1's shoulder as a form of reassurance.

"Thank you." Numbuh 1 replies with a smile.

"Anyways, there are people I think you should see. You're not the only one from Earth we have up here." Numbuh 74.239 continues, opening a door into another room.

"Well else besides us is up…." Numbuh 1 ceases his question when he sees two figures standing in front of him. To his surprise, it is Numbuh Infinity and Chad Dickson (aka Numbuh 274). Infinity seems very happy about seeing Numbuh 1, though Chad seems slightly sullen at the sight of Numbuh 1.

"Numbuh Infinity? Chad? You guys are part of Galactic?" A confused Numbuh 1 asks.

"I was always part of Galactic. My mission was to find the best Earth operative, and bring them here." Numbuh Infinity answers.

"That makes sense. But not to sound rude, if I was chosen over Chad, what's his mission?" Numbuh 1 asks.

"Well. I'm not necessarily going on the same kinds of missions that you are. My job is just to make sure relations with alien planets and missions go smoothly." Chad explains.

"That makes sense, I guess." Numbuh 1 responds.

"Everything will be explained to you over time. In the meantime, Numbuh 274 will show you to your chambers. Numbuh 1, welcome to Galactic Kids Next Door." Numbuh Infinity salutes the two and walks with Numbuh 74.239 into another room.

Chad and Numbuh 1 look at each other, neither sure of what to say to one another. Chad gestures to start walking to Numbuh 1's new room.

"So, you did become a Galactic operative." Numbuh 1 says, trying to break the silence.

"In a way. You go to the planets and fight, while I deal with all the behind the scenes work. Basically what I was doing on the Moonbase." Chad explains.

"If they wanted the both of us? Why make us resent each other?" Numbuh 1 asks.

"I don't know, but there's nothing we can do but move on." Chad replies.

"Move on?" Numbuh 1 asks.

"Yeah. Listen Nigel, I never hated you. I regret doing what I did to stay undercover. There's nothing I can do to change my actions, but I can make up for it. That's what I plan to do for you because…"

"Chad. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but this is a lot for me to take in right now. I just had to say goodbye to my closest friends and family. You don't need to tell me about how you're gonna make it up and why. I know why. You want a fresh start with Galactic Kids Next Door. We all want to make up for our mistakes, God knows I do. There was someone I wish I had said goodbye to before I left. It doesn't matter now, she was mad at me the last time I saw her. All I can do now is move on from it. This can be a new start for another chapter in my life." Numbuh 1 interjects. Chad seems a little upset at not finishing what he wanted to say, but hides that fact from Numbuh 1.

"That's… that's actually pretty on point. And that's pretty much how I feel about the past. Hate is baggage, and resentment is toxic. This can be a new start for us, and I want to make the best of it." Chad replies, putting a hand on Numbuh 1's shoulder.

"Thank you, Chad. I appreciate it." Numbuh 1 replies.

"I'm glad. Anyway, let's get you set in your quarters." Chad opens a door, showing Numbuh 1 where he will be staying for the time being. Numbuh 1 looks around the quarters; which is nothing but 4 walls, a bed, and a window.

"It'll do for now. If you don't mind, I actually want to lie down for a bit. I've had a long day, as you can imagine." Numbuh 1 yawns.

"I get that. I got some stuff to go over with Infinity. If you need me, my room is right next to yours. I'll see you later. Chad then leaves and Numbuh 1 waves goodbye. He then flops down on the bed and falls asleep almost instantly.

Outside, Chad is walking down a hallway and then walks into a bathroom. He splashed water on his face and looks at himself in the mirror.

"You fucking idiot, don't overwhelm him. Now isn't the time for that." Chad says to himself. Just then Numbuh Infinity walks in.

"Is everything alright Numbuh 274?" Infinity asks.

"Everything's fine. He's asleep right now." Chad replies.

"At least he's settling in. Anyway there is something we need to show you, would you come with me?" Infinity orders.

"Yeah, sure." Chad follows Infinity out of the bathroom and into a meeting room.

_End of Part 3. This feels like it should be the first part, but I actually want to make some parts of this story either non-linear or congruent with each other. I liked writing this chapter, especially the part with Chad and Nigel having a one-on-one talk. The next chapter is going to be about Numbuh 362 finding out where Numbuh 1 went, and how she reacts. Not sure how long until the next update. But until then, happy reading._


	4. Numbuh 362 Finds Out

Morning time at the Sector V treehouse.

Numbuhs 2 and 5 awaken from the couch and walk with each other hand-in-hand to get breakfast. When they walk into the living room, they spot spot Numbuh 4 cuddled into Numbuh 3 like a teddy bear. They look at the sleeping duo with smiles on their faces.

"When should we tell them about the tracker?" Numbuh 2 asks.

"Let 'me wake up first." Numbuh 5 responds.

As the two of them eat their Rainbow Munchies, Numbuhs 3 and 4 wake up. Numbuhs 2 and 5 notice this, figuring now is the time to tell them.

"Mornin' sleepy heads." Numbuh 5 says.

"Eh…morning Numbuh 5." Numbuh 4 says, barely awake.

"Sleep good last night." Numbuh 2 quips. Numbuh 4 looks at Numbuh 3 and smiles.

"Yeah, in a way." Numbuh 4 responds.

"Well listen up, there is something we wanna tell you." Numbuh 2 says.

"What?" Numbuh 3 asks.

"It's about Numbuh 1. Listen carefully, Numbuh 2…." As Numbuh 5 is about to tell them, a ship crashes in from the ceiling. A door opens up and the KND Supreme Leader Numbuh 362 steps out. The four startled operatives all stand and salute her. Numbuh 362 looks at them with a neutral look on her face.

"Numbuh 362, how can we help you?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"Get on the ship… right now." Numbuh 362 orders in a calm, yet firm tone. Knowing why she is there, they don't protest and all get into her ship. When they get on the ship, they see the members of Sector W and Numbuh 86 sitting quietly. Numbuhs 83 and 84 seem confused by the situation, Numbuh 86 seems incredibly nervous, whilst Numbuh 363 has a pouty face. Numbuh 362 gets back into the ship and looks at Sector V.

"Buckle up, we're going to the Moonbase." Numbuh 362 orders.

"Figures she'd come here for these losers." Numbuh 363 says to himself, outloud. Numbuh 362 walks up to him and gives him a hard slap across the face.

"You listen to me and you listen good, you little shit. You are not to say another word, don't speak unless you're spoken to, is that clear?" Numbuh 362 orders him in one of the firmest tones she has ever used.

"Mhmm." Numbuh 363 responds, visibly shocked.

"Good." Numbuh 362 sits down in her seat and flies her ship to the Moonbase. On the way there, nobody says a word. She docks her ship in the hangar bay and leads everyone into her office. She takes a seat at her desk and orders everyone to sit down in the chair around her desk.

"I assume you all know why you're here." She speaks up.

"I don't know why I'm here." Numbuh 86 says.

"Numbuh 86, you are here because you disobeyed my orders, which led to nothing in return." Numbuh 362 responds. "When I tell you to bring me Numbuh 74.239 so we can get the cake and stop the scavenger hunt, you bring me Numbuh 74.239 so we can get the cake and stop the scavenger. You do NOT participate in said scavenger hunt, WHERE YOU CAN'T EVEN GET A FUCKING GOLDFISH!" Numbuh 362 chastises.

"But ma'am, I thought by participating in the scavenger hunt, I could get closer to getting the cake. Thinking of strategies for missions is the reason I'm the Global Tactical Officer, right?" Numbuh 86 meekly says in her defense.

"No. You're the Global Tactical Officer because Numbuh 1 decided to keep his position as a Sector Leader and spend time with his friends in Sector V; instead of being here with me. You're track record on decision making is not the best. I want you off the Moonbase until further notice, you will not be in any missions for the time being. Now get out of my sight." Numbuh 362 orders. Numbuh 86 leaves the office sullenly, attempting not to break down in tears right then and there. When 86 is gone, Numbuh 362 turns her attention Sectors V and W.

"Now onto you. I want you to tell me how you got involved in this scavenger hunt to begin with." The Sectors each look at each other, not sure who should speak first. "Today would be nice!" Numbuh 362 snaps.

"Um… well… It started when we hit back to our treehouse. Father was in our treehouse. The Delightful Children were gonna make a movie about eating their cake right in front of us. Then Numbuh 74.239 showed up saying he had the cake, saying it was going to be explained at the theme park. He said it went beyond the Kids Next Door." Numbuh 2 explains with the other members of Sector V nodding in agreement. causing Numbuh 362 to clench her fists in anger.

"When I get my hands on that son of a bitch." Numbuh 362 thinks to herself.

"I believe you. What I would like to know is why you tell me about this." Numbuh 362 replies.

"Well, Numbuh 5 thinks that Numbuh 1 was still suspicious on the Splinter Cell being real. He figured the scavenger hunt could help him get answers to that. He also thought that he'd be the last one you'd wanna talk to after you kicked us off the mission." Numbuh 5 explain, causing to Numbuh 362 to take a more neutral faced tone.

"If only he knew." Numbuh 362 thinks to herself, the look on her face seems as if she's hiding emotional pain.

"I understand that. What I don't understand is how YOU three got involved." Numbuh 362 says, now addressing Sector (in particular her brother).

"We got a message from Numbuh 74.239 that he had the cake and it was gonna be at the amusement park." Numbuh 363 answers, causing to Numbuh 362 to look at Numbuhs 83 and 84 for validation.

"He's telling the truth." Numbuh 84 says.

"Well it's good to know that he can be honest for once in his life. I know what happened up until Numbuh 1 disappeared with Numbuh 74.239. Fill me in on that, right now." Numbuh 362 says, turning her attention back to Sector V. Numbuhs 3 and 4 are about to break down crying, still unaware of the tracker that Numbuh 2 has on Numbuh 1.

"I know that he's gone, and I want to know where." Numbuh 362 demands of Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 5.

"We can't tell you, it's a secret. We promised not to tell." Numbuh 3 says.

"I don't care if you made a deal with the devil. Where is Numbuh 1? Bring him to me." Numbuh 362 says, growing more agitated.

"He's never coming back! He went to space with Galactic Kids Next Door! We're never gonna see him again!" Numbuh 4 blurts before crying into Numbuh 3's arms. Numbuh 362 sits back in her seat, bug eyed and jaw dropped.

"Numbuh 362? You okay boss?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll be right back." Numbuh 362 says calmly before rushing out of the room. Numbuh 5 turns to the others and sees Numbuhs 83 and 84 beginning to tear up.

"Is that what the scavenger hunt was for? To get him to join that Galactic Kids Next Door?" Numbuh 83 asks.

"Yeah it was." Numbuh 5 sullenly confirms.

"Are you saying whoever won the scavenger hunt was gonna go to space?! I could've gone to space with Galactic?!" Numbuh 363 speaks up, causing everyone to glare at him.

"No. This was all for Numbuh 1. Galactic didn't give a shit about you. If you won, nothing would have happened." Numbuh 5 sternly informs.

"But now we'll never find Numbuh 1 again. Why couldn't we work together? Maybe he'd still be here." Numbuh 83 states.

"That first part ain't necessarily true." Numbuh 5 corrects. Everyone (except for Numbuh 2) looks at her confused.

"What are you getting at?" Numbuh 4 asks.

"Numbuh 2, tell them about the tracker. Numbuh 5 needs to check something." Numbuh 5 leaves to find Numbuh 362 as Numbuh 2 begins to tell others about the tracker he placed.

Walking down the hallway, Numbuh 5 hears crying coming from the girls bathroom. She walks into the bathroom to see Numbuh 362 curled up in a ball; her face is red and full of tears, her helmet is in the trash. Numbuh 5 kneels down next to her and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay, boss?" Numbuh 5 asks nervously.

"I'm… so… stupid!" Numbuh 362 cries out as she throws herself onto Numbuh 5's shoulder.

"This ain't your fault. None of knew this was gonna happen, until it did happen." Numbuh 5 says, in an attempt to comfort her Supreme Leader.

"It is my fault. I should've been the one to stop Numbuh 74.239's scavenger hunt. I trusted the wrong person to carry that mission out. All I wanted was Nigel and the Delightfuls' cake, and he took them both from me." Numbuh 362 states, causing Numbuh 5 to cock an eyebrow.

"You really cared him didn't ya?" Numbuh 5 asks, knowing what Numbuh 362 means by wanting Numbuh 1.

"Is it that obvious? If I could see him now I'd tell him I'm sorry. I knew giving Harvey a mission like this was a bad idea. Maybe he'd have said goodbye to me if I didn't yell at him. I just want him to know how I really feel." Numbuh 362 confesses.

"Well despite what Numbuh 4 said, there is a way that we can know where Numbuh 1." Numbuh 5 says, confusing Numbuh 362.

"Then why did he say that you didn't have one?" Numbuh 362 asks curiously.

"Because he didn't know. Numbuh 2 actually snuck a tracker into a bag of goodies that he gave Numbuh 1 for his trip. We were gonna tell them this morning, right before you showed up." Numbuh 5 explains, causing Numbuh 362 to stop crying and jump up.

"We can get him back then?" She asks.

"Well, there's only one tracker right now. And we don't have the technology to reach them right now." Numbuh 5 confesses.

"Then that is your mission right. Get me team to accompany me to get Numbuh 1. I also need several copies of the tracker so that we can have one on Earth, the Moonbase, and with me. I also need a ship designed for deep space travel." Numbuh 362 orders, much to the shock of Numbuh 5.

"You're really serious about this?" Numbuh asks.

"I'm dead serious. The Splinter Cell, Chad, Galactic; all of this madness ends now. I'm bringing Nigel back, and everything will be alright again." Numbuh 362 states.

"Well who do you want for a team on your space journey?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"I have a few ideas of who." Numbuh 362 replies.

"Well until you see Numbuh 1, you should keep these." Numbuh 5 reaches into her pocket and pulls out Numbuh 1's sunglasses. Numbuh 362 takes them from her, clutches the glasses close to her chest and sheds a tear.

"Thank you, Abby. You have know idea what this means to me." Numbuh 362 says.

"Well, don't get too mushy on me. You gave us a lot of stuff to do for the time being. Let's get talkin with the others." Numbuh 5 says.

"Spoken like a true team leader." Numbuh 362 quips.

The two girls stand up and exit the bathroom to meet up with the others and discuss the plan to bring Numbuh 1 back.

_End of Part 4. A real whirlwind of emotions to go through with this chapter. I think this fits Numbuh 362 perfectly, all emotions blended well at the right times. Next chapter is gonna focus on Cree, Abby, Hoagie, and Maurice. More drama ahead. Hopefully it won't take me too long to post that chapter. Until then, happy reading! Please read and review._


	5. The Truth is Out There

At the treehouse, Numbuh 5 is sitting and contemplating. Contemplating on Numbuh 362's decision to try and find Numbuh 1 in space, and how to handle the team when she gets back. She is then joined by Numbuh 2, who has been invited to have dinner at her house.

"Hey Numbuh 5, you ready to go?" The portly operative asks.

"Yeah. Numbuh 5's just thinkin' about everything that's gonna happen. She probably wants me to lead when she leaves to find him." Numbuh 5 responds.

"Well actually, she told me who she wants to bring with her." Numbuh 2 says, causing Numbuh 5 to cock her eyebrow with curiosity.

"Did she now? Who?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"She wants to bring Sector Z. Without Numbuh 74.239 around, she wants me in the Deep Sea Lab to work on recommissioning them." Numbuh 2 explains.

"Not a bad choice. You can do it, right?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"We'll see. But let's head to your house, I'm starving." Numbuh 2 says, rubbing his stomach.

"Alright, we're goin' baby."

At the Lincoln residence, Mrs. Renée Lincoln is making dinner while Dr. Lincoln is on call at the hospital. She is serving Numbuh 5, Numbuh 2, Cree, and Maurice her favorite French dish; duck confit.

"It is just so wonderful to spend a night with my daughters, and their handsome boyfriends." Mrs. Lincoln states in a thick French accent, causing her daughters to blush from embarrassment.

"Mama, stop it." Numbuh 5 says, half laughing from embarrassment.

"Oh but it is so nice to see my babies so happy; with the smiles, and the laughing, and the romance, and the oh you." Mrs. Lincoln responds.

"Well everything's still delicious Mrs. Lincoln, thank you." Maurice interjects.

"Oh Maurice you little gentleman. I see why Cree loves you, you're almost all she ever talks about." Mrs. Lincoln says. Cree holds Maurice's hand, albeit very tightly.

"You got that right mama." Cree comments, clinging possessively to Maurice's hand.

Suddenly, the phone rings and Mrs. Lincoln goes to answer it. When she answers it, she comes back into the dining room.

"I do apologize young ones, I am needed at the parlor. I will get back as soon as I can." Mrs. Lincoln says, before leaving.

"Watch out for your little sister, Cree." Mrs. Lincoln calls.

"She'll be fine mama, we all will be." Cree calls back in an innocent tone.

When Mrs. Lincoln is gone, Cree changes tones and sits back down to eat.

"Alright, listen up you little brats! I was nice enough not to say anything in front of my mom, but I won't hold my tongue anymore!" Cree snaps.

"What you talkin about girl?" Numbuh 5 asks, angry as she has a good idea of what Cree is implying.

"This. You and him." Cree answers, pointing at Numbuh 2.

"We can't have one night without you bitching about kids, can we?" Numbuh 5 quips.

"Well if you didn't bring this tubby little creep into our house, I wouldn't have to!" Cree snaps back. Sensing the awkwardness of the situation, Numbuh 2 excuses himself to the bathroom. Unbeknownst to him, Cree follows him upstairs. When he exits the bathroom, he says Cree standing over him with the angriest look she has ever given.

"What is it? Did you need to go?" Numbuh 2 asks nervously.

"No. But I need you to go." Cree answers.

"What?" Numbuh 2 asks.

"I don't want you in this house. I want you away from Abigail. I'm not gonna let my sister date a fat little pervert." Cree says, bringing Numbuh 2 to the point of tears.

"What's wrong with you? Don't you want Abby to be happy in life? What did I do to you that was ever as bad as the stuff you have done to us?" Numbuh 2 justifiably asks, causing Cree to get more angry.

"Watch it kid, you're on thin ice." Cree warns.

"Figured you'd be happy dating her. I'm not flirting with you and I thought- OOF!" Before he can finish his thought, Cree punches him straight in the stomach and knocks the wind out of him.

"That's enough out of you. Now get up, and get out of this house." Cree demands callously. As Numbuh 2 catches his breath, he gets to his knees, looks Cree in the eyes, and flips her off.

"You little shit." Cree looks at Numbuh 2, grabs him by the arm, and throws him down the stairs. On the way down, he hits his head on the bannister and the wall before hitting the floor.

Hearing this, Numbuh 5 and Maurice rush to the find Numbuh 2 is unconscious.

"Hoagie? Shit, HOAGIE!" Numbuh 5 rushes to his side. Maurice checks his pulse, which he finds.

"We need to get him to a hospital. Should I get Cree to drive?" Maurice asks. With that, Numbuh 5 looks away from Numbuh 2 and at Maurice.

"You serious? You and I both know Cree did this to him." Numbuh 5 then looks around, finding dents in the wall and on the bannister. She then lifts his shirt up, noticing a mark on his stomach. Maurice takes note of this.

"Jesus Christ. I didn't think she'd do this in her own home." Maurice comments.

"It ain't your fault. Cree's a psychopath, ain't no tellin' what those sickos are gonna do next. Can you help me get him on a ship, I wanna take him to my dad's hospital." Numbuh 5 says. Maurice lifts up Numbuh 2 and carries him to Numbuh 5's ship. Unknown to them, Cree overheard their conversation.

"I don't why Maurice would try to help those brats, but I'm gonna find out why." Cree thinks to herself.

At the hospital, Numbuh 2 is with another doctor as Dr. Lincoln is performing a surgery at the moment. While the doctor is with Numbuh 2, Numbuh 5 is sitting in a chair outside, crying on Maurice's shoulder.

"I got you Abby. It'll be okay." Maurice says, in an attempt to comfort.

"Stop saying that! Nothing's gonna be okay with that psychopath around!" Numbuh 5 cries.

"I know. If I just feel so dead inside having to date her, as an undercover assignment." Maurice states.

"Really? Then why do you do it?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"To help you guys. I care about you guys to see you get hurt. Most teens undercover feel that way. Christ, even Chad confessed it to me a couple of times that the person he regretted hurting most was Nigel." Maurice replies, causing Numbuh 5 to look at him startled.

"Really, he REGRETS the shit he pulled?!" A flabbergasted Numbuh 5 asks.

"Hard to believe but yes. Pretty sure he had, and may still have, feelings for Nigel." Maurice confesses.

"God damn." Numbuh 5 bluntly states.

"Listen, if I didn't have to, I wouldn't be dating your sister." Maurice says. Unfortunately for the two of them, Cree bursts through the door, having heard what they both said. Her face shows a mixture of anger and sadness.

"Are y'all serious? Is that how you feel about me?" Cree asks, attempting to bury her emotions. Numbuh 5 is both mad at and scared of her sister. Maurice looks at her with nothing but disgust.

"Cree, what is the matter with you? Do you take pride in what you do? Do you want to make it your life's mission to make me miserable?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"Abby, don't ever talk to me like that again. I did everything to try and help you, and you spat in my face. You fuck up my life more than you can know. And you bring that fat little creep into OUR house, invite him to eat OUR food. He'll dump you for someone else, he went from me, to you, Christ I'm amazed he never flirted with Mom." Cree says callously. Numbuh 5 then jumps and Cree and starts swinging.

"FUCK YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU!" Numbuh 5 yells as Cree tries to pull her off.

"WELL I HATE YOU TOO, YA LITTLE SHIT!" Cree yells back, fighting her off. Maurice pulls Numbuh 5 off of Cree and fixes her up.

"Enough of this. Listen, I think you should go sit in the room with Hoagie. I'll deal with this." Maurice leads Numbuh 5 into the room, she has tears now streaming down her face. Cree starts to walk after her.

"Get back here Abby, I'm not done with you yet!" Cree yells, but is stopped by Maurice.

"You stay the hell away from them." Maurice says in a firm tone.

"How can you stand up for her? She attacked me! How can you be helping those KND brats? I poured my heart out to you, brought you in on my plans and this is how you thank me?!" Cree rants.

"It kills me to see you do this to your sister. Your own flesh and blood for Christ's sake." Maurice grabs Cree by the hand and shows Numbuh 5 crying over a barely conscious Numbuh 2.

"Take a good look. You did that to her. This was all your fault. Everytime there's a good thing going on in her life, you have to go and fuck it up for her. You selfish, evil cunt." Cree then slaps Maurice hard across the face.

"How DARE you talk to me like that?!" Cree snaps.

"I'm not wrong in what I say. Why can't you just let her be happy? What good has becoming a traitor ever done for you?" Maurice lectures.

"I… I… What do you mean?" Cree truly doesn't know how to answer.

"Has anything you've done made your life better?" Maurice asks. Cree then breaks down crying.

"I loved you. I didn't want to lose you. Didn't you ever love me?" Cree pleads.

"Cree, you could have been one of the best in the TND. But you fucked THAT up. There's no coming back from the path you've taken. If you had just left gracefully, we'd all be fine now." Maurice explains.

"That doesn't answer my question." Cree responds.

"I don't see a future for us Cree. I hate to say it, but it's about time you heard all of this." Maurice then turns away to join Numbuh 5 in Numbuh 2's room. Cree then completely collapses into tears. Soon after, Betty and Tommy Gilligan come rushing through the door.

"Where is he? Where's my Hoagie?" Betty tells, completely frantic. Cree notes this and points to the room.

"Thank you." Betty says. She then rushes into the room with Tommy in tow. Cree peaks in to see them all sad to see Numbuh 2 in the state that Cree had put him in. Feeling guilt for the first time in her life, Cree realizes that she now has a decision to make. A decision that she hopes will change everyone's lives for the better. Leave.

_End of Part 5. Definitely one of the most difficult chapters I've ever had to write for a Kids Next Door story. I initially felt it was too dark to write, however I do believe Cree needed this to be said to her. One of the questions Maurice asks her is actually a quote from one of my favorite movies, "American History X." The next part of the story is going to be back in space. Until the next update, happy reading. Please review._


	6. What the Real Plan Is

It's been about a month since Numbuh 1 joined the Galactic. Unfortunately for him, it has not been as glamorous as it had been made out to be. Because he is brand new, he is currently on custodial duty on the Mothership. They paired him with Geo-4 of Sediment Minor, which is just a rock. Numbuh 1 almost immediately called bullshit when Numbuh 74.239 informed him that Geo-4's complete lack of movement was because "He has nerves of steel." Nevertheless, Numbuh 1 was to carry the rock everywhere with him.

One day he grew frustrated and asked Infinity, "Is this all I'm gonna be doing for the rest of my life?!"

Numbuh Infinity looked at him and said, "This is a test of patience and loyalty. You did a lot better than the other operatives did."

"What do you mean?" Numbuh 1 asks.

"Well, every new start has to start off somewhere. This is where they start. Most lose it within a day or two. We send them to 'other areas'." Numbuh Infinity explains.

"Like who?" Numbuh 1 asks.

"Well, there is one called Numbuh Vine. She is on suspension at the moment. There is also Numbuh 9L, you remember her right?" Numbuh Infinity says.

"Yes I do, she seemed to be very protective of me. And I don't think she liked Numbuh 274." Numbuh 1 replies.

"Well unfortunately, we fear the disease of Adulthood may have infected her too." Numbuh Infinity claims.

"Well, that's a damn shame." Numbuh 1 replies sullenly.

"Yes it is. Now if you come with me, there is something we need to discuss with Numbuh 274." Numbuh Infinity leads Numbuh 1 into a conference where Chad is waiting for them. Chad seems agitated.

"Now back to business then." Numbuh Infinity says.

"This isn't business. Destroying a planet is not business!" Chad shouts at Infinity.

"Destroying a planet? What are you talking about Chad?" A confused Numbuh 1 asks.

"He lied to us, Nigel." Chad explains.

"Lied about what?" Numbuh 1.

"I have lied about nothing. The council and I have come to this conclusion unanimously. Numbuh 74.239 has tried to help Earth, and he has failed." Numbuh Infinity answers.

"Tried to help? You told him to prevent Adulthood because it's a disease. Not because it's oppression, but because it's a deadly infection. You lied to him too!" Chad yells.

"But what does this have to do with Earth?" Numbuh 1 asks, now more concerned than ever.

"I'm sorry Numbuh 1, but Earth is beyond the point of fixing. We have decided that you and only you will be the one to carry out it's 'decommissioning'." Numbuh Infinity explains. Numbuh 1 now becomes as angry as Chad.

"So that's what the real plan is?! Numbuh 362 was right when she told me about the Splinter Cell!" Numbuh 1 chastises.

"We are doing what neither Numbuhs 274 or 362 were ever capable of. But you are Numbuh 1. We are going to set everyone free with what you are going to do." Numbuh Infinity responds callously.

"No, I would never bring harm to anyone on that planet. There are good kids there. Why should they suffer for the sins of others? There are evil adults, but there are far more good ones. They don't deserve to die. I never should have accepted the offer from Numbuh 74.239. You're not trying to help people, you're terrorists who want to play God!" Numbuh 1 rants, while Infinity sits there completely devoid of emotion.

"You will understand this better when you realize this Numbuh 1." Numbuh Infinity then takes out a remote. "God is dead." Numbuh Infinity presses a button and suddenly, Numbuh 1 feels his visor sunglasses (that were given to him not long after he joined Galactic) start to poke into him.

"W...what are you doing to me…. AAAHH!" Numbuh 1 begins to collapse in pain. Chad rushes to his side to try and help him. The sunglasses won't come off as they are now fused to his face.

"Nigel! What are you doing to him?!" Chad yells at Infinity.

"Nigel Uno is going to destroy Earth, whether he wants to or not. He belongs to us now. If you want him back, you will cooperate." Numbuh Infinity explains. Chad then dives on top of Infinity and attempts to get the remote from him.

"Let him go, right now! I didn't work undercover and sacrifice my time to the Kids Next Door to let you take everything that's important to me away!" Chad yells.

"That's too bad for you." Numbuh Infinity states. He then reaches up and hits a button under the table. Suddenly several aliens come through the door and pull Chad off of Infinity.

"Get off me!" Chad protests.

"Restrain him." Numbuh Infinity orders. Chad is then cuffed at his wrists and ankles. Infinity then turns his attention back to Numbuh 1, who appears not to be in any more pain. He stands up and watches as they restrain Chad.

"Nigel?" Chad asks, getting no reply from Numbuh 1. He then looks back at Infinity.

"What did you do to him?" He hisses at Infinity.

"Like I said, he's ours now. And you Chad Dickson, are going to witness your greatest failure in life:The destruction of the place you love, by the one you love." Numbuh Infinity informs Chad who's anger is now at it's boiling point.

"Numbuh 1 are going to as I ask?" Infinity asked the brainwashed Numbuh 1.

"Yes sir, the mission goes ahead as scheduled." Numbuh 1 replies, in an emotionless monotone. Chad glares at Infinity.

"When I get of this, I'm going to kill you." Chad hisses.

"That day will never come." Infinity hisses back. He then looks at the guards. "Take him away."

As the guards take Chad away, Numbuh Infinity turns to Numbuh 1 and smiles. Nigel is now his brainwashed slave, ready to destroy the Earth.

"Shall we proceed?"

"Yes sir."

_End of Part 6. A lot to unpack here. This seems like a time jump in the story, but remember; this story will be nonlinear at points. I will get back to Galactic at another point. The next chapter will deal with the Delightful Children. Until the next update, please read and review._


	7. Capturing the Delightfuls

Back at work on Earth, it is back to about a week since Numbuh 1 left Galactic. Stumbling from the woods are the Delightful Children from Down the Lane. They had survived their fall at the amusement park. Their pristine clothes are now torn and tattered. They walk up to the front gate of their house and knock on the door. The door is answered by their butler, Jenkins.

"Young masters? Where have you been?" Jenkins asked.

"We have been wandering these filthy woods for the past week! We have been trying to find our way back with nothing! And it's all because Kids Next Doofuses!" The Delightful Children rant.

"Well better come inside and change then. I imagine Father would like to see you." Jenkins leads them inside, almost ignoring their rant.

The Delightful Children step inside, wiping their feet on the rug, before making their way to Father's study. He is sitting in his chair, with his back to them.

"Hello, Father." They say nervously.

"Where… have… you... BEEN?!" Father turns around, bursting into flames. The Delightful Children begin to cower before him.

"We were lost in the woods Father. We became lost at the amusement park. We couldn't find anything for days and days." The Delightful Children respond fearfully.

"I don't care if you were lost in Baghdad! Do you have my pipe or Nigel Uno?!" He asks callously.

"No, we don't know where either of those are." They reply, covering up their anger for him not caring about their well being.

"But once we clean up and have our weapons ready we will…"

"SHUT UP! You are not going ANYWHERE. You are disappointments to me…. AND to the villains, go to your room until I decide what your punishment will be." Father shouts at them.

"But Father…"

"GOOOO!" Father shoots fire over their head and they run out of the room.

"We have to earn Father's trust. We need those Kids Next Brats destroyed." They say to themselves.

As they make their way into their bedroom, someone is waiting for them when they arrive. It is Numbuh 5, who came in through the window and still has it open.

"Long time no see, Delightful Dorks."

"You! How dare you break into our house! Father will not be happy about this! We demand his pipe back, and bring us Nigel Uno!" They demand.

"Oh, you're never gonna see Nigel Uno again." She replies calmly.

They then growl and proceed to rush her. She jumps on the window sill and looks out the window.

"Now Numbuh 2!" She shouts.

Suddenly a large claw on a rope shots through the window and grabs the Delightful Children and proceeds to pull them out. Numbuh 5 jumps on top of the hook as she rides with them into the ship piloted by Numbuh 2.

"Get us outta here baby." Numbuh 5 says.

"On it." Numbuh 2 then proceeds to fly to the KND Deep Sea Lab. He then spots several projectiles coming at the ship.

"Incoming! Hang on!" Numbuh 2 takes evasive action as an attack comes into view. Suddenly Father comes on the video monitor.

"Hoagie P. Gilligan! Give me back my Delightful Children! And bring me your leader!" Father demands.

"Fat chance." Numbuh 2 says under his breath.

"Young man, do as I say, or I'll blow you out of the sky!" Father threatens.

"Nah." Numbuh 2 then turns off the video monitor.

Numbuh 5 then makes her way to the front of the ship and sits in the co-pilot seat.

"He ain't gonna shoot us down with the Delightfuls on board. Blow his ass away, Numbuh 2." Numbuh 5 demands.

"With pleasure." Numbuh 2 sends a barrage of missiles and explosives towards Father's ship.

Because Father is not even close to Numbuh 2's skill level in piloting, he is forced to evacuate the ship with a parachute. His ship explodes as he sees Numbuhs 2 and 5 escape with the Delightful Children.

"You brats have made one mistake too many! Your day of reckoning is coming!" Father threatens them, though talking to himself.

When Father lands, he hits a tree on the way down. Losing his parachute in the process, he falls on braces repeatedly before hitting the ground.

"Ow. Maybe I should get a better ship. I need to get in touch with all the villains." Father thinks to himself.

As he finds his way back to the mansion, he is unaware that there is a woman following him in the shadows.

"You're gonna pay for what you did to our babies, you son of a bitch." The woman threatens under her breath.

_End of Part 7. A shorter chapter than usual, but this does set up two HUGE future plot points in the story. There are crazy times ahead. Not sure when the next update will be, or which story line it will be. Until then, happy reading!_


	8. Reflecting on the Past

As Numbuh 2 lands the ship in the Deep Sea Lab, Numbuh 5 gets the Delightful Children properly restrained so that they don't attempt to escape. They exit the ship and are greeted by Numbuhs 86 and 362.

"Any problems?" Numbuh 362 asks.

"None that this genius couldn't get rid of." Numbuh 5 answers while hugging Numbuh 2, who reacts in pain to it.

"Ah shit, Abby that still hurts." Numbuh 2 grabs his ribs when she lets go.

"Sorry baby."

"Are you feeling better Numbuh 2?" Numbuh 362 asks.

"I'm getting there."

"I can send a squad after her if you want. I can make that the goal for everyone in my squad." Numbuh 86 offers.

"Don't bother. They ain't gonna find her. Hell I haven't seen her since that night. Only thing I found that could be hers was this, found it the night I helped bring Numbuh 2 out of the hospital." Numbuh 5 hands Numbuh 362 a folded piece of paper. It reads, I LOVE YOU ABIGAIL.

"Jesus, can't even imagine what you're going through in your head right now." Numbuh 362 comments.

"Well whatever it is, it's nothing compared to what happens to you when Father finds us here." The Delightful Children interject.

"He's not gonna find you here. If he ever does show his face here. You all will be with me in space. I have an important task for you." Numbuh 362 informs.

"Why would we go on a mission with you?! We have no intention of helping you KNDoofuses!" The five of them protest.

"You will have that intention. But I know you want to find Nigel Uno, and I need your help with that." Numbuh 362 explains, much to the surprise of the Delightful Children.

"Why us?"

"We'll discuss that later." Numbuh 362 turns her attention to Numbuhs 2 and 86. "You guys know what to do with them?"

"We got this ma'am. We'll get this done as quickly as possible." Numbuh 2 says.

"That's what I like to hear. I'll be on the Moonbase, let me know how it all goes." Numbuh 362 gestures for Numbuh 5 to come with her. As Numbuh 5 follows, she turns back to the others.

"You be good to him." She says.

"We can't possibly attack him with restraints you stupid girl!" The Delightful Children snap.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Numbuh 5 eyes Numbuh 86, who looks at her with a flabbergasted expression.

"What?" Numbuh 86 asks confused.

"Don't mind her. Abby, nothing's gonna happen to me down here. I'm not gonna be alone. I have people here with me. You don't have to worry." Numbuh 2 states.

"I'm always gonna worry baby. I love you." Numbuh 5 says before turning to leave.

"I love you too, Abby. I'll call you if we need you." Numbuh 2 watches Numbuh 5 leave, though she seems rather sullen. Numbuh 2 turns his attention back to Numbuh 86 as they begin to walk with the Delightful Children to another part of the lab.

"Sorry about that 86. Ever since the Cree incident, she's been hesitant to leave me alone. Even with other people." Numbuh 2 explains.

"Christ. Without getting too personal, what exactly happened that made Cree do that to you?" Numbuh 86 asks, surprising Numbuh 2.

"I asked why she had a problem with me dating Abby, said she should be happy I'm not flirting with her, then she went apeshit." Numbuh 2 explains.

"I'm sorry."

"Really? This isn't the Fanny Fulbright we all know." Numbuh 2 states.

"I know, but that's because I've honestly been reflecting on the past lately." Numbuh 86 explains.

"Why's that?"

"Well after I got off the Moonbase that day, Numbuh 362 came to my house later, told me what happened to Numbuh 1, and what she's planning to do. She told me that while she's gone, she wants me to keep a close eye on Sector W, and in particular her brother. Honestly that night, we both ended up crying our eyes out." Numbuh 86 explains.

"Why did you cry, was it because of what she said to you on the Moonbase?" Numbuh 2 asks.

"No, we were both thinking about Nigel. You remember how close we were in Kindergarten?" Numbuh 86 asks.

"How could I forget? You, me, and Nigel were the three musketeers back then. I miss that version of you. What happened?"

"Well I miss that version of myself too. I've been reflecting on why everything went to shit. It was in the summer before 3rd grade."

"Yeah I was wondering that myself. You seemed like a different person, especially when you joined the Decommissioning Squad. What happened to you?" Numbuh 2 asks.

"I'm getting to that. At one point I did want to ask Nigel out, and I even wrote a little letter. Those bastards in the Six Gum Gang saw it. They teased me for having a crush and liking boys. I went on a rant about not liking boys. Unfortunately, Nigel saw me ranting and it scared him away. I went to his house to give him the letter. His parents told me that he was out with someone. I saw him in the park with Lizzie." Numbuh 86 begins to explain. Numbuh 2 looks at her with surprise, never knowing that these events had occurred. They put the Delightful Children in a chamber and seal it shut.

"Fuckin' Lizzie. I never liked her. Do you still have that letter you wrote?" Numbuh 2 asks.

"No, when I saw them together I realized that I blew it. I ripped the letter up and threw it away. Now as for my transfer to decommissioning, that's a whole other story." Numbuh 86 explains.

"Oh I know that story already. That would drive anyone mad. But I'm curious if you still feel this way about him." Numbuh 2 interjects.

"I don't know. But I doubt dating is on his mind right now. Besides when Numbuh 362 was over play my house, she told all the reasons why she wanted to go and find him. Honestly I think she would be the best one for him anyway." Numbuh 86 explains.

"Oh I agree with that. But we need to make sure that we have good people with her when she does find him." Numbuh 2 says, turning his attention back to the Delightful Children.

"You're not going to hurt us are?" The five of them ask. Numbuhs 2 and 86 look at each other, not sure how to respond.

"Well we're combining Decommissioning, Flash Photography, and Recommissioning technology together. So… yeah this is probably gonna hurt like hell." Numbuh 2 says bluntly.

"Alright 86, turn your key with me in 3...2...1...turn." With that the machine turns on and begins the process of repairing the Delightful Children children to their original state. True to his word, the machine does cause pain. The process is not a quick one either.

"How long does this have to last again?" Numbuh 86 asks.

"We'll power levels have to reach eleventy-billion, so it'll be a while. We just have to wait." Numbuh 2 explains. For the next two hours; Numbuhs 2 and 86 spend time discussing the old days, their troubles in life, the events to come, rekindling their friendship that had previously been lost.

"Feels good to get all of this off my chest. It can be just like the old days. All of us will be better when this mission's over." Numbuh 86 says.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were hitting on me Fanny." Numbuh 2 jokes, earning a light thump on the head.

"Watch it there big guy. I wouldn't do that to you and Abigail. I respect the rules of relationships. Maybe in another life." Numbuh 86 responds.

"Duly noted."

A sound goes off on a monitor and Numbuh 2 reads the meter at eleventy-billion.

"Okay, turn the keys back in 3...2...1…now." The two of them turn the keys back and the machine stops.

"Did it work?" Numbuh 86 asks.

When she says that, the five in the chamber stand up, revealing they have become Sector Z once. The Delightful Children are no more.

"I think so. Let's get Abby and Rachel back here."

_End of Part 8. I felt this chapter was important for characters to reflect on the past. I also wanted to write something that could explore the mindset of Numbuh 86, and why she is the way she is. Not sure when the next update will be, but hopefully it will be soon._


	9. Parting Ways

On the Moonbase, Numbuh 5 and Numbuh 362 are completing preparations for the space journey with Sector Z. In order to not be recognized by anyone in Galactic (namely Numbuhs Infinity and 74.239), Numbuh 362 buzzes down the sides of her hair to give a mohawk style look. She also makes sure that she wears all dark clothing, similar to what she wore when she was the top spy for the KND. She packs away her jumpsuit and tiger sweater in a bag for extra clothes however. Numbuh 5 is readying her ship for launch, equipping it with various weapons and supplies.

"Yo, you sure you need these weapons with you boss?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"Well I doubt they'll be willing to give Nigel back without a fight first. They have no idea the hell I'm willing to unleash on them for taking Nigel from me." Numbuh 362 explains.

"God damn." Numbuh 5 responds bluntly.

Just then, Numbuh's communicator goes off and she answers it.

"Talk to me."

"They're back, Numbuh 5. We're headed your way."

Numbuh 2 answers over the radio.

"You goddamn genius you. Bring em on up." Numbuh 5 signs off and turns her attention back to Numbuh 362.

"They did it. They're coming."

"Perfect. I knew they could do it."

"You did? I thought you wanted 86 off of missions for time being?" Numbuh 5 asks curiously.

"We all say a lot of shit during heated moments, I'd think you of all people would understand that." Numbuh 362 says, referring to the last time Numbuh 5 saw Cree.

"Fair enough. What did you two say to each other to make you trust her again?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"Everything. She told me why is the way she is, the reason Nigel became so scared of her, how Lizzie ruined her chance of redemption, we even recounted the incident that made her switch careers in the KND. When I told her I was going after Nigel and why, she said I was better for him than she ever could be." Numbuh 362 explains, much to the surprise of Numbuh 5.

"That's actually very noble of her. I miss that side of her." Numbuh 5 comments.

"We all do. That last thing I told her to do, was to keep a close eye on Harvey for me." Numbuh 362 explains.

"We all will. No offense, but your brother does need help." Numbuh 5 comments.

"I understand that. I've already recommended a KND psychiatrist. But listen, if while I'm gone he does get worse. You can decommission him."

"You sure?"

"I am. But just don't tell me about it."

"Does he know why you're leaving?"

"He does. I told him Fanny would be keeping an eye on him. I told him it was for the best." Numbuh 362 explains.

"Well, let's just hope it all goes well."

About a minute later, Numbuhs 2 and 86 arrive on the Moonbase with Sector Z in tow. They are greeted by Numbuhs 5 and 362.

"Hey could you find Numbuh 362? We got them all prepped and ready to go." Numbuh 2 says, not realizing that he's talking to Numbuh 362.

"Hoagie…" Numbuh 362 chuckles before removing Numbuh 1's sunglasses. "It's me."

"Oops. Ha ha, sorry Rachel, I didn't recognize you."

"Well good. That was the idea with this, and why I wanted Sector Z with me." Numbuh 362 explains.

"What would that reason be?" Bruce asks.

"The reason is because I don't want Galactic to have the advantage of fighting someone they recognize." Numbuh 362 explains.

"That makes sense. Now then, everything is ready? And do you know where we're going?" Ashley asks.

"I do. With the trackers Numbuh 2 made, we know where he is. Now it'll take a couple weeks to reach him, but that's why I wanted at least two months worth of supplies packed. We don't know how long we're gonna be out there, or how hostile it's gonna be out there." Numbuh 362 explains.

"Well let's get going then. Gotta bring our boy home, right?" Bruce asks.

"Damn right." Lenny adds.

"Get on board, I'll be there in a second." Numbuh 362 says, and they all load into the ship.

"Ya done good you two." Numbuh 362 addresses Numbuhs 2 and 86.

"Thanks. Stay safe out there, Rachel." Numbuh 86 hugs Numbuh 362, who hugs her back.

"I will. Like we said the other night; when Nigel's back it'll be just like the old days." Numbuh 362 reassures.

"Thank you. And don't worry, you're brother's gonna be in good hands with me." Numbuh 86 reassures.

"Thank you. Numbuh 5, Numbuh 2, I wish the best of luck to you." Numbuh 362 salutes.

"Godspeed, Numbuh 362." Numbuh 5 and Numbuh 2 salute back.

As they watch their former leader take off to find their comrade, they can't help but feel happy and sad all at once.

Numbuhs 5 and 86 rest their heads on Numbuh 2's shoulders.

Noticing this, Numbuh 5 shoots Numbuh 86 a dirty look as if to say, "Girl, you best watch yourself with my man."

Meanwhile on board the ship. The newly reborn Sector Z is ready for deep space travel. At the suggestion of David, they turn on a radio that was installed and begin to sing along to "Sweet Home Alabama", by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

(Bruce and David)

_Big wheels keep on turning_

_Carry me home to see my kin_

(Ashley and Lenny)

_Singing songs about the south-land_

_I miss 'ole' 'bamy once again and I think it's a sin_

(Constance and Rachel)

_Well I heard Mister Young sing about her_

_Well I heard ole Neil put her down_

_Well, I hope Neil Young will remember_

(Everyone)

_A southern man don't need him around anyhow_

_Sweet home Alabama_

_Where the skies are so blue_

_Sweet home Alabama_

_Lord, I'm coming home to you_

**End of Part 9. This is going to be one of the last really optimistic chapters of the story. I included them singing at the end because I think it fits their optimism of their mission. Still a lot of storytelling ahead. Until the next update, happy reading!**


	10. An Unexpected Rescue

On the Mothership, Chad's hands are bound together as two guards pull him into a large room and restrain the chain in his cuffs to the floor. In front of him, he sees Numbuh 1 standing before a module. In front of both of them, he sees a screen with the planet Earth on it. He knows what Numbuh 1 is being mind controlled to do.

"That's why I have no choice but to do this." Numbuh 1 says, he takes a booger from his nose and prepares to insert it into the module, but pauses when he hears Chad speak.

"No! My family's there! Your family, our friends!" Chad pleads, hoping that he can break Nigel out of their control.

"It's ruled by adults, infested, too far gone." Nigel says, callously ignoring Chad's pleas.

"What about Sector V? Hoagie, Kuki, Wallabee, and Abigail? Abby would never let you do this." Chad's pleas almost seem to break through the brain washing, when several other aliens chime in on video messages. One of which is Numbuh 74.239, who is revealed to be a tree-like alien. Finally, the bickering aliens are silenced from another video chiming in.

"The decision does not come lightly. The decision is…" The alien begins to state.

"Don't do it Nigel! This isn't what the Kids Next Door is about!" Chad makes a final plea.

"Suppress!" Chad is suppressed, preventing him from talking.

"The decision is Nigel Uno's." With those words, Nigel prepares to unwillingly perform the bidding of Galactic.

"Galactic Kids Next Door, rules!"

Nigel inserts his booger, a voice calls out "NOO!" and suddenly the module is shot with a laser, causing it to explode. The explosion sends Nigel falling back on his face, shattering his mind control sunglasses.

As he stumbles to his feet, he sees several figures walking towards him. Chad is also surprised to see people, who are human, running towards them. It is Sector Z, having found Nigel after weeks.

"Who… are… AAAHH!" Nigel is about to ask a question, but collapses in pain. The device is still fused to his head, but the mind control is unbalanced. It goes in and out, causing him great pain.

"Nigel!" Chad shouts, worried about his love.

Noting this, Rachel looks at him in shock. But still, she shoots the cuffs off his wrists and frees him.

"Chad? Why are you here?" Rachel asks.

"Long story, but wait… are you?" Chad recognizes the voice. Rachel lowers the sunglasses, and Chad now fully recognizes her.

"How the hell did you find us?!" Chad asks.

"We'll explain later, but right now we gotta get outta here. Everyone fall back! David and Ashley, grab Nigel! Lenny, Constance, and Bruce; cover our backs!" Chad was shocked, he had heard those names before. But he decides that now is not the time for questions.

As they flee, several members of Galactic begin to fire upon them, but they are held back by Sector Z.

When they load up in the ship, David and Ashley get to work in a medical, trying to remove the sunglasses without the risk of killing him.

"What did they do to you, Nigel?" Rachel asks sadly.

"It was Infinity, that motherfucker used mind control in him. He wanted to take Nigel from me, and have him destroy the Earth." Chad says, trying to conceal his rage. Rachel takes note of what he said about Nigel being taken from him, but focuses more on what he said about destroying the Earth.

"Cock...suckin' motherfucker! If I see him or 74.239 again…" Rachel pulls out a knife and slams the blade onto a table. "I'm gonna kill them."

"I'm with you on that. But let's get Nigel back to Earth." Chad says.

"Fair enough. Bruce and Constance take over flying the ship." When they approach the pilot's chairs, Chad stops them.

"Are you guys really the original Sector Z?"

"Yes, yes we are." Bruce says.

"But, you guys disappeared. Where have you been this whole time?" Chad asked, shocked to see them again in person.

"Do they look like anyone we were enemies with on Earth, Chad?" Rachel asks, hoping he will recognize who they once were. Looking at them closer and seeing the others around the ship, Chad finally recognizes them as the once Delightful Children, and falls flat on his butt.

"Oh my God."

**End of Chapter 10. If the escape seemed too easy and the chapter too short, I have a surprise for you in a later chapter. The next chapter however is going to be a flashback chapter. I love writing nonlinear stories. With everything going on in the world, it shouldn't take me long to post the next chapter. Until then, happy reading! **


	11. Some Years Ago

Moonbase Cafeteria: 1999

Numbuh 100 is having lunch with Numbuhs 9, 274, and the members of Sector Z.

"Alright, so are you guys excited for Phantom Menace?" David asks excitedly.

"Oh my god dude, calm down." Bruce groans.

"Calm down? This is the first Star Wars movie in almost years! This is gonna be awesome. Come on a young Darth Vader, and Obi-Wan. There's so much potential with this story. And I can't wait to see it." David argues.

"Honestly, I'm more of a Star Trek girl than Star Wars." Ashley chimes in.

"I respect that. But so long as you respect my love of Star Wars."

"Honestly, Star Wars lost me at Return of the Jedi. The first two were fine, but the Ewoks lost me." Chad comments.

"Young one, the Ewoks are actually very cleverly written. Believe me, Lucas knew what he was doing." David informs the young boy.

"No, the Ewoks were just there to sell toys to us. They're just sentient teddy bears." Lenny states indignantly.

"That's what I'm saying." Chad says in agreement.

"Okay, the two of you are nuts. Ewoks were more than that, they were…"

"Hey guys!" Behind the group comes Cree; at the time Numbuh 11, Leader of Sector V. "Sorry I'm late. Abby's been sick."

"Oh it's alright Cree, be nice to change subjects anyway." Maurice says.

"Why what did I miss? Another Star Wars debate?" Cree quips.

"To a T, Numbuh 11. But enough of that, where were you?" Numbuh 100 asks.

"I was looking after Abby. She was sick and I wanted to look after her. My dad said to me, 'You gotta be out with your friends; with the laughing, and the movie, and the fun, and the… oh you know.'" Cree explains.

"How is Abby doing? And I forget, how'd she get sick again?" Numbuh 100 asks.

"She's got a common cold. Some guy, going around doing it to kids. Calls himself the Common Cold. He ever shows up at the treehouse, he's a dead man." Cree states calmly, albeit angrily.

"Next week, I want you guys to look into this Common Cold guy." Numbuh 100 orders Sector Z.

"Will do, sir." Bruce replies.

"We'll get him for you, and for Abby, Numbuh 11." Ashley reassures.

"Thank you, Numbuh 0.3. You don't know what this means to me, ever since my brother's been at college. All I've had is Abby, I wouldn't want anything to happen to her. She's my heart." Cree states.

"You really do care about her, don't you boss?" Maurice asks.

"Put it this way Numbuh 9, her first word was Cree. That just meant the world to me." Cree informs him.

"Well you know what, maybe one day she'll join Sector V and fight alongside us." Maurice says.

"Now that, sounds like a plan." Cree quips.

"One day Numbuh 11, when she's. Anyway, I'm gonna handle the bill. You guys hang tight, and I'll be back and we can head to the movie." Numbuh 100 gets up to leave and pay the tab.

"I know I was late to the conversation, but what were you guys debating earlier?" Cree asks.

"Oh, this guy was about to explain to us why the Ewoks were brilliantly written." Bruce explains sarcastically.

"They're just teddy bears. Savage little teddy bears." Cree laughs.

"No, there's a deeper meaning to them. Think of it this way, they represent underdogs of war. Outnumbered and at a technological disadvantage. The VietCong in Vietnam, the Russians in World War II, the Americans in the Revolutionary War, this list goes on." David explains.

"You spend way too much time reading history dude." Lenny quips.

"Reading history pays off. You learn from it, and never make the same mistakes again." David explains.

"How did we go from Star Wars, to this?" Cree asks.

"Because in Star Wars, the underdogs win the war. And the Empire, much like real tyrants of history, don't learn from their mistakes and repeat them, i.e. the Death Star." David states.

"When you're not in the KND anymore, you need to go into politics." Cree quips. Everyone starts laughing. Numbuh 100 comes back to them.

"Okay, is everybody ready?" He asks.

"All good to go, sir." Cree says.

"Alright, let's get going." Numbuh 100 leads his comrades out of the cafeteria, and they prepare to head to a movie theatre back on Earth.

**End of Chapter 11. A nice little break from the chaos of Galactic. This part was mostly inspired by "Reservoir Dogs" and "The Godfather Part II." I love exploring the past of several of these operatives. I love to think that they were happy at one point in their lives. Next chapter is back on the ship with Chad and Sector Z.**


	12. Chad vs Rachel

Back on the ship, Bruce and Lenny have caught Chad up to speed on everything; what happened to them, how they were discovered, how they were brought back for good, and what their plan was with Rachel.

"Jesus Christ. You guys were smart to come when you did. Do you know what those motherfuckers were planning to have Nigel do?"

"I'm the one who warned Nigel about the Splinter Cell. So yeah, I have a good idea of what those motherfuckers wanted him to do." Rachel responds.

"How did you know about the Splinter Cell in the first place?" Chad asks.

"You're not my only undercover. Eyes and ears were everywhere with me." Rachel responds.

"Well anyway, I'm glad you saved us. I just want to apologize to Nigel when he wakes up. There is something I've been wanting to tell him." Chad states, looking lovingly at Nigel through the glass of the other room.

Taking note of this, Rachel stares at Chad with a cocked eyebrow. The others in Sector Z sense the awkwardness and go to do tasks at different areas in the ship.

"Is that right, Chad?" She asks, earning a similar look from him.

"Yes, it is right. I wanted this whole thing to be a new start for us. Clearly I was wrong and put faith in the wrong people to make that possible. But Nigel's mine, I almost lost him once. I'm not gonna let that happen again." Rachel chuckles at Chad's statement.

"Something funny to you?"

"You don't think I travelled light years to get Nigel back to Earth, just to watch him fall into the arms of someone else do you?"

"Well the way Nigel put it, you probably wouldn't have been too sad to see him go in the first place." This now makes Rachel just plain mad.

"Excuse me?"

"He said to me that there was someone he wished he'd said goodbye to. But she yelled at him the last time he saw her, so it didn't matter." Rachel is now equal parts guilty, sad, and angry.

"Fuck you, you son of a bitch. Nigel means the world to me, I never wanted him gone. He deserves someone who doesn't put his life in danger, or try to kill him."

"I never wanted him dead, and I never put him in any real danger! I made sure nothing could happen that would prevent him from escaping, so go fuck your self!"

"Really? The fuckin' Moonbase incident ring any bells? And don't give me that doing it to stop Cree from doing it bullshit."

"You think I haven't thought about that?! With Galactic on my ass and the need to go without decommissioning to be undercover, options were limited for me."

"Well that doesn't matter now, I'm not letting you take Nigel from me!"

"Oh shut up. No one TOOK Nigel from you, you fucked up your chance to be with him! He needs someone who has faith in him."

"I do have faith in Nigel! He's one of the best operatives we had on Earth!"

"Is that why you had your bratty little brother on the cake mission and acted like a fuckin' bitch?"

"Fuck off with that, I know I made a mistake and I'll own up to it. I could say the same thing about. Nothing says "I love you" like attacking him, being jealous that he's better than you, and getting him mixed up with a shady terrorist cult. I would make sure that was safe from all that, I never want to make him feel belittled again, he'll stay as close to me as much as possible. I'll make sure of that."

"So then why did you give the Global Tactical Officer position to 86?"

"He turned it down to be with his friends, so fuck you."

"How does that help your argument? Clearly he cares more about them than he does you."

"Hey if my memory serves, you offered him the Arctic Base, but he turned it down for the same reason. So once again, I say fuck you."

"I don't need this shit from YOU. The point is Nigel's mine."

"You can't have him! I travelled all this way to tell him how I feel. This is my first chance at that. What did you have, a fuckin' MONTH to tell him? If you really loved him, you'd have done something about it. And don't give me that Galactic on my ass bullshit. Fuck Galactic, fuck Infinity, fuck 74.239, and fuck the too soon cliché.

Give me ONE fucking reason why I should let you even get NEAR him!" Chad's anger is at its tipping point by now, as is Rachel's.

"Because I always felt this way about him! I always knew his potential and I always found him special! You just have a little crush on him, and you can't truly appreciate him the way I can!"

"That's it! THAT'S FUCKING IT!" Rachel then dives at Chad and the two start swinging.

They go back and forth punching, pulling hair, choke holds, etc. Finally, the others step in and pry them apart. Lenny and David hold Chad back while Ashley and Constance hold Rachel.

"Let go of me, I'm not finished with him yet!"

"I'm willing to keep going! Bring it bitch!"

Finally Bruce stands in between the two of them, "Alright that's enough you two! Calm the fuck down! I don't care who loves who, who fucked who over, who deserves Nigel's love, just stop it. We got bigger shit to worry about than a fucking love triangle!"

He then grabs them by their collars and drags them over to the window to show Nigel sleeping in the medical bed. "Look at him in there. Does he look like he's in a position to choose who he loves more?! You two leave him alone until we get back to Earth. And don't give me that chain of command shit, we were in the Kids Next Door when you were shitting yourselves in diapers! Keep the peace, do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes." Both Chad and Rachel day begrudgingly.

"Good. Now let's just try to get back to Earth safely." Bruce says, and the rest of Sector Z lets the two go and go back to what they were doing before. Chad and Rachel stare at each other angrily for a brief moment before finding a place to stay on the ship.

About 20 minutes pass, when Nigel comes out of the medical room. The first one to notice him is Chad, who rushes over to him before Rachel can.

"Nigel, are you okay?" Chad asks, escorting him back to the bed.

"No Chad. I'm pretty fucking far from okay. My head is pounding and I feel like absolute shit. I almost doomed the world." Nigel says, shedding tears. Chad his hand on Nigel's cheek.

"Nigel, none of this is your fault. I blame myself, for everything that's happened this past month. But when we get back to Earth, everything is gonna be alright, trust me." Chad tries to reassure.

"Chad please. No more promises and no fresh starts in life."

"I don't want a fresh start in life Nigel. What I want is… a life with you." Nigel is taken back by what he just heard.

"I'm sorry… what?"

"I've wanted to tell you for so long now, but I never had a good chance to. Until now." Chad puts his other arm in Nigel's other cheek.

"Chad, I uh…" Before Nigel can finish, he feels his lips crushed by Chad's. Unfortunately for Chad, Rachel sees this and drops to the floor in tears. For Chad, this is a dream come true. Unfortunately, this is another moment of shock and uncertainty for Nigel. He eventually pushes Chad away from him.

"What's wrong, Nigel? You didn't like it?" Chad asks, almost heartbroken.

"I'm sorry, Chad. But I don't think of you that way. I'm not gay. I don't mind that you are, but this won't work. I hate to disappoint."

Chad's legs feel like they are going to buckle and his heart was just ripped in half. He begins to tear up as he turns to walk away from Nigel.

"Listen, Chad I…"

"No, Nigel I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have just assumed you felt the same. Please. Forgive me." Chad leaves the room in tears as Nigel just sits there, not sure what to do.

When Chad leaves, he sees Rachel crying on the floor next to the door.

"Are you happy now? Did you get what you wanted?" Rachel sarcastically asks, half-angry and half-sad.

"No." Chad replies, trying as hard as he can to keep his cool.

"Don't do that again, Chad. He's too good for you." Rachel threatens.

"That won't be a problem. He's not into me the way I'm into him. If you want him go for it. But if you do, you best be good to him." Chad walks off to join the others by the pilot's chair.

"How long until we get to Earth?" Chad asks, not wanting to discuss what just happened.

"Oh it'll be awhile before we get back to Earth, Chad. So I'd make peace with Rachel ASAP. You're gonna be seeing her face for at least a few weeks." Bruce says.

"As long as she loves Nigel better than I ever could, I'll be fine." Chad responds, trying to hide the pain he feels of being rejected.

"Very good, now let's just…" Suddenly a ship comes up on the radar.

"Is that ship, what I think it is?" Bruce asks.

"Yes, yes it is."

The ship launches several rockets at Sector Z's ship.

"Get is the fuck outta here!"

Before Bruce can take evasive action…. BOOM!

**End of the chapter. Definitely a lot to unpack here. Chad and Rachel's fight. Sector Z having to step in. Chad's now broken heart, and the surprise attack at the end. Sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger, but the next chapter is gonna take some time to write. Until the next update, happy reading! Please review.**


	13. Recapture

The Galactic ship that had chased them had fired a temporary EMP upon the ship of Sector Z, so as to temporarily cripple it.

On the ship, everyone's cradles appear to be rocked. Rachel is attempting to get the ship up and going, but it fails.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Everything's down. We gotta take out that ship before it takes us out." Rachel says, slamming her fist repeatedly into a computer screen.

"I don't think they're here to kill us." Chad says.

"What makes you say that?" Bruce asks.

"They don't want to kill us _yet_. They're here for me and Nigel. We gotta get you him outta here." Chad demands.

"Him? What about you?" Rachel asks.

"Don't worry about me. Get him outta…." Before he can finish his sentence, a tube shoots from the Galactic ship and cuts a hole through the roof.

Chad and Rachel both rush to Nigel to get him into the escape pod, while Bruce and Constance wait time to fight the enemies to enter the ship.

Unfortunately several bombs are dropped into the ship. The bombs set off electric charges and all go off and once. Chad is knocked into the escape pod, which suddenly kickstarts due to the electric bomb. Before Chad can attempt to get out and help the others, the escape pod launches away into space.

Rachel attempts to get to Nigel but is stopped when a bomb knocks her across the room. Suddenly something tentacle appears from the tube and appears to grab Nigel. Still fazed, he cannot shout out for help.

"Nigel!" David attempts to grab his leg when he is pulled up the tube, but he can't reach him in time.

The roof is sealed shut once more, the tube leads back into the ship and it takes off into space.

When Rachel comes back to it, she rushes towards the window to see the ship fly off into space.

"NOOOOOO! NIIIGEEEELLL!" She then absolutely breaks down in tears.

"We can still get him back, Rachel." Ashley reassures her.

"How?! How are we supposed to get him back?! The ship's dead in the water! This was our ONE chance to get him back. And I fucked it up!" Rachel rants, still crying her eyes out.

"We didn't completely fuck it up. This blindsided all of us. And you're wrong, that wasn't our one chance to get Nigel. We can still find him." Bruce reassures.

"What do you mean?"

"I had thought this would happen, so I embedded another tracker onto Nigel. We're gonna get him back, I promise you." Ashley informs. Rachel is still crying however, as she is unsure whether this attempt will succeed or not.

"I'm glad you thought of that, but I'm still scared of what they'll do to him." Ashley then puts a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Think about it, what will Nigel do if Plan A failed and there wasn't a real backup plan?"

"He'd improvise. And he'd always come out on top."

"Exactly."

"I knew I picked the right team for this mission. Come on, let's get the ship up and going again. We got a mission to do." Rachel says, now more confident about retaking Nigel.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nigel is taken to a Galactic prison where he is hauled into a large room.

"You mother fuckers! Get your hands off me!" Nigel screams he is then strapped to the chair. When he is secured, Numbuh Infinity walks into the room. Nigel looks at him as if he wants to split his head on a curb.

"Leave us." Infinity orders the guards, who obey him.

"Now then, down to business." Nigel spits in his face, though Infinity seems to brush it off like it is nothing.

"Fuck you… you piece of shit. You tried to have me murder billions for your psychopathic rhetoric. When I get out of this place, I'm going to kill you, you sick son of a bitch." Nigel threatens, though Infinity still seems to be unfazed.

"I was willing to be civil and give another chance to Numbuh 1, but you leave me no choice. We are going with Option B. Galactic is now prepared to go to Eart and personally wipe out anyone who is infected with adulthood. You are going to watch us do it from this prison, and you will never know the benefit of being a hero amongst Galactic operatives." Infinity informs, as coldly as he can.

"You don't truly know Earth the way I do. They'll fight you all off with a hellstorm they're willing to unleash on you. Before that war ends, you're going to die. You're worse than almost every adult on Earth."

"Even the villains, Numbuh 1? What of the ones who wanted to destroy you?" Infinity says, in a final attempt to convince Nigel.

"Most villains were merely selfish, they just wanted some extra soda for themselves or just an extra math sheet for us. Unlike them, YOU deserve to die." Nigel snaps, not stuttering for one moment in his response.

"And what of the ones who do deserve to die?"

"They are not yours to kill, there is a special round in hell for them and I'd love to send you there personally."

"Very well then." Infinity stands up and several guards grab hold of Nigel.

"Throw him in the cell with Numbuh 9L. He can have one last moment of happiness, before we destroy the Earth." Infinity then leaves the room as Nigel is dragged to his cell.

The prison has a panopticon style, and Nigel is thrown into a cell on the lowest level. Inside his cell, he sees a familiar face. It is Numbuh 9L. She is a massive cat with orange fur and red stripes, and two tails.

"Numbuh 9L, is that really you?" Nigel asks, relieved to see a familiar face.

"Numbuh 1? Numbuh 1!" Numbuh 9L yelps ecstatically. She then rushes from one side of the cell to the other to pull him in for a hug with her paw.

"What happened to you?" Nigel asks, curious to see her in the prison. She suddenly becomes angry and sad all at once.

"They destroyed it. They destroyed Kepler, and all that I loved there." She begins to cry when Nigel comforts her.

"I'm so sorry. They just told me they plan to do the same with Earth. Their original brainwashing plan failed because I was rescued by Earth operatives on a secret mission. But Galactic recaptured me, Numbuh 274's in a spacecraft to God knows where, and the ones who tried to rescue me are stranded in a spacecraft that I'm pretty sure can't start up again." Nigel begins crying himself, when Numbuh 9L pulls him close to her.

"Whoever it is that wants to help you, I hope they're alright. In the meantime, you're safe with me. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you." She uses her tail to rock him to sleep, and then places him protectively in her arms. She licks his cheeks, as a form of a kiss.

"Nobody's gonna hurt my baby." Numbuh 9L says as she looks at Nigel asleep in her arms.

* * *

**End of the Chapter. A lot to unpack in this chapter and how truly important it is to the story. Chad is not stuck in space, forever. Given what I've read about Numbuh 9L's description by Tom Warburton, I chose to have her treat Nigel the way Kuki treats Bradley; like her baby. The planet she was from is actually based on a real planet called Kepler-452b. As you can imagine, the next chapter is going to have an epic fight moment, set to epic music. Until the next update, please read and review.**


	14. Prison Break

On the ship, Sector Z is preparing for the prison break-in. This is their way of ensuring that Nigel does not get taken from them. Their plan is to crash into the weakest point of the prison (as not get blown up) and wreak havoc on Galactic operatives in the prison. The idea is to put up a bigger fight than last time, and cripple their airships to prevent them from being followed.

After a few days of repairing the ship and planning the rescue, they are finally ready.

"You guys ready?" David asks.

"As we'll ever be." Rachel says, cocking her plasma cannon.

"Alright then. Coordinates are set, the ship's up and ready. Let's get our boy back." Ashley says, sitting in the pilot's chair.

They all strap in and prepare to rescue Nigel.

Meanwhile in the prison, Nigel is sitting on Numbuh 9L's arm with a very worried and sullen look on his face.

"It's okay, Nigel. You're safe with me. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you." Numbuh 9L reassures him in a motherly tone.

"It's not me I'm worried about. I'm worried about the people on Earth's safety, and I wanna know if Chad and Sector Z are still alive." Nigel says, growing more upset to the point of almost crying. Numbuh 9L strokes his bald head with her other paw.

"I'm sorry Nigel. I do hope for the best, for all of them. From what you've said about Numbuh 5, she seems like she wouldn't go down without a fight. I know Numbuh 274 wouldn't just flee, he'd jump right into a fight. I do hope your Sector Z friends are alive, they're good people from what I understand. But for now, just rest. We will escape here together eventually, and I'll keep you safe from those Galactic psychopaths." Numbuh 9L says, hugging her "baby" close to her.

Not moments after she says that, the prison is suddenly rattled by an explosion.

Sector Z flew the ship into the main entrance, past the security door. They'll emerge from the ship, weapons locked and loaded.

When a wave of alien guards rush at them, the aliens are mowed down by laser fire. Sector Z continues shooting their way into the main control room. Rachel reads the prison layout, trying to find Nigel's cell.

"Ah, here's the hanger." She signals to Constance and David. "You two, take out those ships. I don't want another EMP wiping us out again." The two rush to the hanger to destroy the enemy ships.

"Okay, it says here that Nigel is on the bottom cell level. We're gonna have to fight our way to him with how this is layed out. But first, let's give them a taste of what Sector Z can do." Rachel hits the loud speaker and speaks into. "All you Galactic mother fuckers better get ready for a Hellstorm."

Nigel heats the voice and recognizes it.

"It's… it's her. It's Numbuh 362. She's alive!" Nigel shouts, and Numbuh 9L smiles at seeing Nigel so happy.

"I knew they would be." Numbuh 9L quips.

Back in the control room, Rachel holds down the button on the intercom, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath by Black Sabbath begins blasting throughout the prison. Rachel then hits the buttons on a panel releasing the prisoners, freeing Numbuhs 1 and 9L, along with the others to fight off the guards.

_You've seen life through distorted eyes_

_You know you had to learn_

_The execution of your mind_

_You really had to turn_

Guards make their way to the control room, but are not prepared for the brutal hand to hand that Rachel unleashes on them. Her, Bruce, Ashley, and Lenny make their way into the cell levels to fight the guards alongside prisoners.

_The race is run the book is read_

_The end begins to show_

_The truth is out, the lies are old_

_But you don't want to know_

When they leave their cell, Numbuh 9L uses her tail to pull Nigel onto her back. She uses her other tail to crush her enemies with a tight squeeze or brutally slam them into the walls, floor, and ceiling. Nigel goes hand to hand with anyone climbing on her back.

_Nobody will ever let you know_

_When you ask the reasons why_

_They just tell you that you're on your own_

_Fill your head all full of lies_

In the hangar bay, David and Constance set charges to destroy the ships. It also works as a booby trap to cripple approaching enemies with the explosion.

_The people who have crippled you_

_You want to see them burn_

_The gates of life have closed on you_

_And now there's just no return_

It's chaos within the prison for the guards who try to keep it all under control. No prisoners are attacking Sector Z, Numbuh 9L, or Nigel.

_You're wishing that the hands of doom_

_Could take your mind away_

_And you don't care if you don't see again_

_The light of day_

Working together, Sector Z makes it down to the next level of the prison as Nigel signals for Numbuh 9L to make her way topside to intercept Sector Z.

_Nobody will ever let you know_

_When you ask the reasons why_

_They just tell you that you're on your own_

_Fill your head all full of lies_

_You bastards_

David and Constance make their way back to the cells, seeing the fighting that is going on. They make their way to the rest of Sector Z, seeing that even in space there is the code that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".

_Where can you run to_

_What more can you do_

_No more tomorrow_

_Life is killing you_

Finally, Sector Z comes face to face within Numbuhs 1 and 9L. Before Rachel can run up to Nigel, Numbuh 9L slams one of her tails down in front of her. Confused, Nigel urges both of them not to attack

_Dreams turn to nightmares_

_Heaven turns to hell_

_Burned out confusion_

_Nothing more to tell, yeah_

Numbuh 9L raises her tail and says to Rachel, "Lead us to your escape ship."

_Everything around you_

_What's it coming to_

_God knows as your dog knows_

_Bog blast all of you_

Sector Z leads the two back to the ship fighting off any remaining guards, while the escaped prisoners deal with the other guards.

_Sabbath bloody Sabbath_

_Nothing more to do_

_Living just for dying_

_Dying just for you, yeah_

Making it back to the ship, they see that they are still able to fly it.

Nigel hops off of 9L's back and makes his way over to Sector Z. In the meantime, Numbuh 9L puts a paw out in front of Rachel.

"I would like to have a word with you if you don't mind." This makes Rachel somewhat nervous, she agrees to a one-on-one nonetheless.

"So. You're the famous Numbuh 362 that Nigel told me about."

"What exactly did Nigel tell you? And please be honest, I know I hurt him, he has every right to be mad at me." Rachel asks, sullenly.

"He actually spoke very highly of you. He said you were a great friend to him on Earth, but he wished the last time he saw you ended with a better conversation." She informs Rachel, who becomes saddened by the last comment.

"As do I. I never wanted him to leave me."

"So that's why you came here? Not just to take him back to Earth, but to patch up your relationship ?"

"Pretty much. I assume you knew Numbuh 274 and he may have talked shit about me." Rachel says, to which Numbuh 9L nods in agreement.

"He said that you wouldn't have been too sad to see him go. But he said that because Nigel seemed upset that he didn't see you one last time. I'm just making sure that I can trust you with my baby." Numbuh 9L says, much to Rachel's confusion.

"I'm sorry… what?" Rachel asks dumbfounded.

"He's like my baby. Didn't have anyone out here to protect him, so I'm his protector." 9L explains.

"Jesus. It's like Numbuh 3 with Numbuh 6 back on Earth." Rachel says under her breath.

"Who's Jesus?" 9L asks curiously.

"Someone on Earth from long ago, not important right now. But what is important is keeping Nigel safe with me and making things right when we get back to Earth. I'm not here to criticize or punish him for things that aren't his fault. I'm here… to love him." Rachel confesses, tears dripping at the last statement. Numbuh 9L suddenly forms a ring with her tails with Rachel in the center of it.

"You see this, Numbuh 362? This is a circle of trust. You're in it. But if you go out of it, you're out for good. You be good to my Nigel. Get him home safely. I'll help take care of things here." Numbuh 9L informs.

"Thank you." Rachel then climbs carefully over the tails and walks back to the ship.

"Good luck, Numbuh 362." Numbuh 9L turns back around to finish off the other Galactic guards in the prison.

Rachel walks aboard the ship and orders Ashley to take off and make her way back to Earth.

While traveling through space, Nigel nervously walks up to Rachel. "Listen, Rachel I just wanna say, I'm sorry for…" Suddenly Rachel pulls him in for a tight hug as if to keep him with her.

"You have nothing to apologize for Nigel, none of this was your fault. I never should've let you go. And I never should've hurt you like I did on the bridge. Please forgive me, Nigel. I don't wanna lose you again." Rachel apologizes.

"You don't blame me?" Nigel asks, confused.

"No. You didn't plan any of this. You didn't want to hurt anyone on Earth. You didn't create that fucking scavenger hunt to determine who's worthy of joining a terrorist organization who likes to play God. You have been manipulated for too long now, no longer. When we get back to Earth, all will be right in the world again. Just like old times. Maybe even something new." Nigel is curious what Rachel means by that last part.

"Something new?" Rachel then puts her hand on Nigel's cheek.

"I'm not gonna act as if I didn't have an ulterior motive for bringing you back to Earth safely. You and that operative Numbuh 9L seem to think I was going to punish you. But I'm not here to do that, Nigel. I came here, because I love you." Rachel confesses, in a loving tone. Nigel stares at her in disbelief for a second before speaking.

"Y...you do?"

"Yes I do. Wholeheartedly. I've wanted to tell you for so long now. I just wish I'd told you before Chad admitted HIS feelings."

"That's not a problem. I'm not gay. I just hope Chad didn't take it too hard." Nigel states.

"Wherever he is in this cosmos. Hopefully he's safe. But for now, let's get YOU back home safe."

"Okay then. Can I ask you something, Rachel?"

"Yes my dear?"

"Can I touch your hair, it looks awesome?"

"Yes you may." Rachel sighs as Nigel fiddles with her Mohawk.

"Ooh I love it. You have to keep it. Why'd you do it to begin with?" Nigel asks, like a child playing 20 Questions.

"I may keep it. I got it so I wouldn't be recognized by Galactic. And I wanted Sector Z with me, because they wouldn't be recognized." Rachel explains.

"That does make sense. There's a reason you're the best spy in the Kids Next Door."

"Thank you Nigel, hey can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"May I kiss you?" Rachel asks with puppy eyes.

"Yes you may." Nigel responds. With that, Rachel pulls Nigel in for a kiss, which he seems to enjoy as much as her. The two sit on a couch, cuddled up together, feeling safe in each other's arms.

Meanwhile in the cockpit, Ashley begins a video call with Numbuh 5.

"Numbuh 5 come in, this is Sector Z. We got him, we're coming home."

Numbuh 5 answers the call with a sullen look on her face. "It's not safe for you here right now."

"What are you saying?" Ashley asks, confused.

"Don't come home." Numbuh 5 then cuts the feed abruptly, leaving all of Sector Z in a state of shock.

* * *

**End of the Chapter. Don't hate that it's a cliffhanger, love that it keeps you in suspense for what's next. This is going to be the last space chapter for a while. The next chunk of the story is going to be back on Earth. Definitely a lot of crazy events to look forward to when the story continues. Until the next update, please read and review.**


	15. Return to the Moonbase

**Return to the Moonbase**

* * *

Back to the Galactic attack on Sector Z's ship, Chad is thrown into the escape pod via the explosion. After the wiring short circuits, it launches him into space.

Inside the pod, Chad is beyond panicking. He begins trying to find a way to turn the pod around, but to know avail. He notices a screen that shows that the escape pod is set to return to the KND Moonbase. He begins attempting to get the pod to turn around and return to Sector Z's ship.

"Come on you son of a bitch, turn this shit around!" He rants at the screen.

"Escape pods cannot return to ship when launched, return to Moonbase standard protocol." The computer voice informs him.

"No, no, no! Turn this fucking thing around!" Chad rants, hitting the screen in vain. It is no use, as the pod still makes it way towards Earth.

Traveling at a ludicrously fast speed, he manages to arrive with in the solar system within less than a day. Slowing down, but still very fast, it approaches the Moonbase. Unfortunately, because he doesn't know how to operate it, the pod crashes through the Moonbase and lands in front of the state of Numbuh Zero. Barely able to walk, he crawls and falls out of the damaged pod. In front of him stand Numbuhs 60, 86, 35, and 23; all staring at him in shock. 86 then gets on her telecommunicator.

"Numbuh 5. There's someone here you should see." 86 says.

"Is it Sector Z." Numbuh 5 replies back.

"No. It's… Numbuh 274." She nervously replies.

"I'm on my way down." Numbuh 5 replies. Less than a minute later, she arrives at the crash site to see that what 86 had told her was true.

"Chad. What the hell happened to you?" Numbuh 5 asks, still in disbelief that she is seeing him.

"Ma'am, what do you want done with him?" Numbuh 60 asks.

"You and the others clean this mess up. Fanny, help me bring him to my office." Numbuh 5 orders.

"Yes sir." With that, Numbuh 86 escorts Chad to Numbuh 5's office. When the three arrive, nobody is sure what to say until Chad speaks up.

"I need your help with something." Chad requests.

"And what would that be?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"I need the scientists' help with that pod. I need to get back to space." Chad says, trying not to sound desperate.

"Did that pod come from where Numbuh 5 thinks it came from?" Numbuh 5 asks, as if she knows the answer. Chad feels almost too ill to answer but does so anyway.

"Yes this is from Sector Z's ship. And before you ask, I have no idea if Sector Z or Nigel are even alive." Chad confesses, though on the verge of tears. This leaves both Numbuhs 5 and 86 shocked.

"What? If you were on their ship, how did you end up here without them?" Numbuh 86 asks.

Chad then spends the next half hour explaining what happened to him and Numbuh 1 on the Galactic Mothership, how they had been temporarily rescued by Sector Z, admitted his feelings to Numbuh 1, being attacked with EMP's by Galactic, and how the escape pod ended up on the Moonbase.

Both of the girls are left teary-eyed with this new knowledge.

"Those… " Abby isn't quite sure how to Finnish her thought.

"Those fucking cunts!" Fanny screams as she throws her helmet across the room.

"You can say that again, girl." Abby quips.

"So what do we do? Can you help me get back out there. I need to get Nigel back. We need to…" As Chad begins to ramble, Abby puts her hand up.

"Chad, Numbuh 5's gonna stop you right there. We ain't risking losing anyone else. We sent the best out there already, and if they're alive they can make it on their own." Abby explains.

"Are you serious?! You're really just gonna abandon them out there?! Why would you…" Before he can finish that thought, Abby smacks him hard across the face.

"Chad! Calm the fuck down! I know how you feel, and it sucks!"

"How do you know Abby? Do you truly know how it feels not to know if the person you love the most is…." Before he can finish, Fanny steps in front of him and makes several hand gestures telling him to stop.

"What?"

"She does know how you feel." Fanny explains.

"How so?" Chad asks curiously.

"Because, Cree almost to my Hoagie away from me once. I ain't seen her since. But I ain't been lookin. She left on her own, nobody made her." Abby explains, trying to hide the difficult emotions of remembering that night.

"Christ. I'm sorry, Abby. I had no idea. Is that why you want me here? You want me to find her?" Chad asks.

"No. Don't bother looking for her. I got other plans in mind. But I need you to promise not to go back out there. We need you here." Abby explains to him.

"I'll do what I can here on Earth. It's just…. hard not to worry about Nigel out there in space. I don't wanna lose him." Chad says. Fanny and Abby stare at each other, having heard talks like this before.

"Chad. Let me ask you something. Is Nigel alone out there?" Abby asks.

"No, Sector Z is with him."

"Is there someone there that would do anything for him, and would love him as much as you did?"

"Yeah, Rachel. But when we were talking together, we ended up screaming at each other over who should get to have Nigel."

"And what happened to end it?" Abby asks, and Chad tries hard to keep his composure.

"When I told him I wanted a life with him, and he told me that he doesn't feel the same way about me. That he's not gay." Chad explains.

"But if you can't have him in the way that you want, what do you want for him?"

"I want him to be happy. I would want Rachel to be there for him in ways I can't be." Chad answers.

"That's good Chad. That's the first step." Fanny says.

"What do you mean by that. Admit that you have a special place for him in your heart, that what you really want is to see him happy, and move on." Fanny says.

"You seem to be very knowledgeable about this Fanny." Chad quips.

"Well it's what I did." Fanny says under her breath.

"Nevertheless, Nigel is safe Chad. You needn't worry about him. We do want you to do something on Earth for us." Abby informs him.

"Anything, anything to take my mind off the insanity that Galactic creates for me."

"Good to know. There's a villain meeting at the convention center. Ever since Numbuh 1 went to Galactic and there are no more Delightful Children, Father's been more angry at the Kids Next Door. But he's at a loss because he doesn't have his Sector Z as his minions, and the Teen Ninjaz can't do shit without Cree running it. I want you to spy on them. And don't worry about being seen by the teenagers. Maurice tipped me off to this, he'll be the only one there. You'll be safe, but try to stay incognito." Abby informs him.

"Yes ma'am." Chad salutes.

"Good luck. Numbuh 86, lead him to a ship."

"Yes ma'am." Fanny salutes and leads Chad to ship on standby.

"I can see why Rachel chose Abby to be Supreme Leader." Chad says to himself.

* * *

**End of the Chapter. The next chapter is going to take place at the convention center with the Villains. When I originally wrote this, Chad was gonna wander into the convention center before being taken to the Moonbase, but I think this works better. I hope you all enjoyed it. The next update should be within a couple. Until then, happy reading!**


	16. The Convention Center

Taking a ship and making his way back to Earth, Chad parks the ship away from the Villains Convention as to not get noticed.

"Alright, let's just see what Numbuh 5 wants from these fuckers." Chad says to himself as he works his way into the convention center.

Walking through the convention center, Chad sticks to the walls and works his way up to the rafters. Below him, he sees Father standing at a podium and nearly every villain standing before him. As they applaud, Father motions for them to be silent.

"Fellow adults, I have called you here today to discuss a very important issue. How we must band together to destroy the Kids Next Door!" Father shouts.

"Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Father over here!" Toiletnator shouts to get Father's attention.

"Yes? Is there something you'd like to SHARE?!" Father asks.

"Well it's just that the last you had this kind of meeting, Grandfather kind of unleashes Hell on Earth." Toiletnator says, causing all the villains to murmur and not in agreement.

"This isn't like that time. Because, we are not seeking outside help. We are going to take them down ourselves. And turn them ALL into perfectly well behaved children."

"Oh I get! You're gonna use them to replace the Delightful Children after they were taken away!" As soon as Toiletnator says that, every villain steps about 20 feet away from him.

Having had enough, Father shoots a fireball at him, which sends the Toiletnator flying towards the ceiling. Falling back down, he lands on the rafters not too far from Chad.

"Now then, as I was saying…"

"Hey Father, look who's up here! It's Chad Dickson!" As the Toiletnator yells that out, every villain looks at the rafters to see Chad, who jumps over to push Toiletnator off the rafters for blowing his cover.

"Chad?!" Father shouts.

"Chad?" Mega-Mom and Destructo-Dad shout.

"Oh, fuck me. This can't be happening." Chad says to himself.

Mega-Mom and Destructo-Dad fly you to greet their son, by each taking an arm and bringing him down to the stage.

"Chad, where have you been?! It's been months since we've seen you! You haven't thought to check in?!" His mother asks hysterically.

"Well I um…"

"Yes, Chad. Why don't you tell us where you have been these past few months?" Father asks menacingly, as he approaches Chad.

"Why don't you explain to everyone how you're STILL a Kids Next Door operative?!" Father demands. Chad practically shits a brick at the mention of that, unaware that Father knew he was undercover.

"Father, our son's not in the Kids Next Door anymore. He tried to send them to the sun before becoming a villain." Destructo-Dad protests.

"He did do that, you are correct. BUT, his motivation is not what you think." Father explains. He then turns to Chad. "You didn't think that we didn't have moles of our own did you?"

"How do you know? Who told you?" Chad asks.

"That's hardly important now. What is important is you answer some questions we have for you. Number 1, where is my brat of a nephew? Number 2, where are my Delightful Children? And, Number 3, what plans does this Numbuh Infinity have for us?" Father asks.

"I have no clue where Nigel or the Delightful Children are,or if they're even alive. And Numbuh Infinity wants us all dead." Chad answers bluntly.

"Tell the truth, dear. It'll be easier if you do." Mega-Mom pleads, but change doesn't say anything.

"Son, please. Tell the truth. Do you really expect to believe merely that?" Destructo-Dad asks.

"Honestly, I don't give a shit about what any of you believe." Chad bluntly answers, much their surprise.

"Chad! Watch your mouth young man!" His mom protests.

"It's true. What benefit do I have to gain from talking to anyone if you anyway? Doesn't change the fact that you guys were inches from destruction and helped prevent that from happening." Chad says, causing Father to grab him by the shirt.

"Why should we believe you, you disrespectful little shit? Almost everything you said while working was CLEARLY part of a lie. What's next you never really hated Numbuh 1 and are really in…" Father pauses after sensing tension within Chad. "Oh? You did, didn't you?" Father chuckles.

"You hear that, everyone? Chad Dickson is in love with Nigel Uno!" Father laughs, causing half of the villains to laugh and the others to just stand confused. Chad is feeling a mix of anger and sadness at having been outed in such an embarrassing way.

"Oh that... is… just… cute!" Father mocks.

"Fuck you asshole." Chad says, causing Father to slap him.

"Don't… EVER… speak to me like that again!" Father shouts.

"Now, now. Father, we can handle this, we are his parents. We will discipline him, and even find a cure for his problem." Mega-Mom states.

"What problem would that be?" Chad asks his mother.

"Well, we know your… feelings may not have necessarily been your own. There is this great pea gram I heard about in Alabama that helps boys like you through this." Mega-Mom ignorantly suggests, much to Chad's disgust.

"Listen Chad, we love you. We want to help, and we mean that." His dad says.

"And when I say this, I mean it too. Fuck you. You have no idea what it feels like to be me. Maybe I should've let that Galactic death cult destroy you, just so you can know what this shit feels like." Chad replies, now more angry than said. His parents back away from in shock, and Father approaches him and creates a massive fireball."

"You… disrespectful… little… FAGGOT!" Before he can drop the fireball on Chad, a gunshot rings out and Father is hit in the shoulder. Falling backwards, Father looks around to see that there are shooters with actual guns in the convention center.

Using his evil powers to heal the wound with fire, he stands up and launches fireballs at the shooters' balcony.

"Don't fuck up… THE SUIT!" He yells.

As gunfire and literal fire shoot above their heads, the villains all begin running out of the building. Eventually Father is hit several more times, and he decides to flee and deal with his would-be assassins another time.

Chad, having crawled onto the floor to avoid being shot finds himself in another great predicament. He has been outed as a Kids Next Door ally, a homosexual, and now has no home to go back to.

"Why couldn't they have shot me instead?" Chad thinks to himself. As he contemplates what to do next, he suddenly feels a hand pull him into a corner.

"Hey, who's… Maurice?" Chad is shocked time see his fellow comrade still in the building.

"Hey Chad." Maurice replies calmly.

* * *

**End of the Chapter. An emotionally intense chapter for sure, but sets up a lot of storytelling down the road. This chapter took longer to write than I wanted to, but current events and my life in general have shifted my attention. The next chapter will focus on the aftermath of the events in the chapter. I still aim to keep writing at least one fanfic chapter a week. Until the next update, happy reading!**


	17. Change of Plans

Escaping from the convention center, Chad leads Maurice back to his ship without being spotted.

"Chad, what happened to you man?" Maurice asks, concerned for his comrade.

"Space terrorists, that's what happened. They tried to get Nigel to destroy the Earth. We were rescued, but maybe in vain." Chad begins to explain.

"Who rescued you, and why is it in vain?" Maurice asks curiously. Before Chad can answer, Maurice's communicator goes off.

"Talk to me." Maurice answers.

"Maurice! What the fuck's goin' on down there?! Why am I serum' villains running out of there?!" Abby yells.

"Shit went south, Abby. But it wasn't my fault. Toiletnator blew Chad's cover. Father tried to kill him, and some people shot at him." Maurice answers.

"Get up to the Moonbase, the both of you." Abby orders before signing off. Maurice climbs into Chad's ship, who flies back to the Moonbase. While flying to the Moonbase, Chad answers all of Maurice's questions: What happened with Galactic, Sector Z and Numbuh 362, his sexuality, and the fate of the Earth.

"That's rough man, I'm sorry that happened to you. And listen, I know you wouldn't wanna go back to your place. You can stay with me." Maurice sympathetically offers.

"Would your mom be cool with that?"

"Course she would. She loves you. Besides, she's a civil rights lawyer. The number of cases she's taken involving people like you is astronomical." Maurice explains. With that, Chad gives Maurice a giant bear hug.

"Thank you, Maurice. You don't know how good it feels to have someone like you as a friend." Chad says.

"Feeling's more than mutual, Chad." Maurice replies.

* * *

As they walk into the Moonbase, they are greeted once again by Numbuhs 5 and 86.

"What… happened?" Numbuh 5 asks.

"Exactly what Maurice told you. The Toiletnator blew my cover and I was outed, in more ways than one." Chad replies.

"How did the TOILETNATOR of all villains blow your cover?" 86 asks, baffled.

"I was hiding in the rafters above the stage. Father was talking about a plan to turn everyone Delightful and Toiletnator brought up the Delightful Children. Naturally, Father got pissed and shot a fireball at him and sent him flying to the rafters." Chad explains.

"That actually makes a lot of sense. But you said you were outed. How?" Abby asks.

"Father seemed to know that I was undercover and about the Treaty incident with me and Nigel. That got me thinking there's a mole inside the KND. And if that's true, I'd like to know who it is." Chad explains. Abby looks to Maurice, who confirms it to be true.

"Why did the Villians start running away?" Fanny asks.

"A bunch of people started shooting at Father, with real guns. Maurice helped get me outta there, and we don't know who did it." Chad answers.

"Is Father dead?" Abby asks.

"I don't think so. I saw him running outta the building before I pulled Chad to safety. I think his suit has healing powers, because he did get hit a bunch of times." Maurice explains.

"How'd the shooting start?" Abby asks.

"When I told them about the Galactic threat, they brushed it off. Eventually Father deduced why I was helping the KND. When he was gonna hit me with a fireball, one of the shooters hit him in the shoulder." Chad explains. Abby and Fanny cringe at the details.

"I'm sorry, Chad. Nobody deserves to be outed like that. What about your parents, they didn't try to help you?" Abby asks.

"No. They wanted to "help" me with my "problem". And when I said no and Father tried to attack me, they just… fucking… watched." Chad hisses.

"Jesus man, what are you gonna do? Do you need a place to stay?"

"He's staying with me. I offered it to him, and I know my mom wouldn't mind having him around." Maurice answers.

"Well, that's good. Listen, why don't you guys take the next couple days off and we'll…" Before Abby can finish, three alerts pop up on her computer. The four of them rush over to see that the alerts are coming from Sector V, Sector W, and the KND Arctic Base.

"Moonbase! Come in Moonbase!" Numbuh 83 cried out.

"We're here, Numbuh 83. What's wrong?" Abby asks.

"Teenagers!" 83 replies.

"Numbuh 5, help!" Numbuh 2 calls out on another monitor.

"What is it Numbuh 2?" 86 asks.

"A Teen Ninja squad's attacking the treehouse. We need help!"

"Arctic Base to Moonbase, teenage attack on Arctic Base. Requesting reinforcements!" Numbuh 60 calls from another monitor.

Before Numbuh 5 can respond to any of them, the feed to all three monitors is cut.

"What? No, no, no! Shit! Goddamn teenagers!" Numbuh 5 shouts. She then goes to her closet to pull out weapons and armor.

"I'm goin' to help Sector V! Fanny, you get to Sector W!" Abby orders, tossing her several weapons and some armor as well.

"We'll help Numbuh 60 at the Arctic Base. And we'll leave a message for the Teenz to deliver to Father." Chad informs the girls.

"What message?" Numbuh 86 asks confused.

"That you don't attack someone on their home turf with planning first. We all know this is a response to the incident at the convention center." Chad explains.

"What makes you say that?" Maurice asks.

"Father doesn't want to attack every KND base. Just the ones that'll have the biggest impact on us." Chad explains.

"You're right. Father said he wants all kids Delightfulized, but he wouldn't use teenagers to do that. Let's get to the Moonbase to help Patton." Maurice says. The four of them all salute each other before rushing off to help their respective bases/ focal points.

* * *

**End of the Chapter. The next three chapters are going to focus on each group fighting off the Teen Ninjas. Finally going to see The Basterdz forming and fighting together. I find it easier to focus on each group individually, and where this leads them. Until the next update, happy reading! **


	18. The Arctic Base

**The Arctic Base**

* * *

Speeding towards the Arctic Base, Maurice and Chad are more than prepared to fight.

"This shouldn't be too bad." Chad comments.

"How can you say that so calmly?!" Maurice argues.

"Knowing Patton as well as I'll do, he'll get everyone outta there and fight them using the tunnel systems O had installed. Fight like the Viet Cong did." Chad explains.

Chad lands the ship about 100 yards away from the base entrance, and then leads Maurice to a tiny cave.

"What are we doing here?" Maurice asks curiously. Cha then hits a secret button that reveals a hidden chute.

"I had it installed after Numbuh 100 put me in charge of the Base. The only other one who knows about it is Patton. The only ones who know about the hidden tunnels are me and him." Chad explains. "This'll lead us right into the main office, let's get down there."

Without a second thought, Maurice follows Chad down the chute.

* * *

Inside the Arctic Base, Numbuh 60 is leading a defensive assault on the teenagers. Though it seems as if they are backing him and the other operatives into a corner, he is leading the operatives to escape pods to face the teenagers alone.

"Bartie, get everyone back to the Moonbase. I'll handle them here." He orders Numbuh 35.

"But Patton, how are you gonna…." Before he can finish his thought, Patton grabs him by the collar.

"Don't ask questions, just go!" Patton then throws him into the ship and prepares to face off against the teenagers.

As they approach him, The Steve steps forward and boasts, "Looks like we got you trapped now little dude."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Patton quips.

He then jumps towards a button on the wall and sets off an explosion. The explosion buries The Steve and other teenagers in a mound of snow. Using time to his advantage, Patton slips into a hole with a chute. Sliding down the chute, he lands in his office where he sees Chad and Maurice. They two of them are geared up and ready to fight.

"You guys came, thank God." Patton sighs in relief.

"Good to see you again, give us a sitrep." Chad requests.

"Well, this place is crawling with a handful of those teenage fucks. The only KND operatives on the base are the three of us. The biggest threats here is The Steve. Now we can't get back up the way I came it's cut off by the snow mound. I buried The Steve and some others in it, but I don't know if they got out." Patton explains.

"What about any prisoners, could they break them out?" Chad asks.

"There are no prisoners right now. We haven't taken prisoners since the TREATY incident." Patton explains, much to Chad's surprise. Though Chad decides not to focus on that right now.

"Are the tunnels and booby traps still good to use?" Chad asks.

"Top notch. I had a feeling you'd wanna fight VC style. And hey, the sound system still works." Patton comments.

"Why do we need a sound system?" Maurice asks curiously.

"Because it's a good way to distract them. What's something we've learned about the Teenz we've had to spy on?" Chad asks.

"Oh that's easy, they hate good music." Maurice correctly states.

"Exactly." Chad pulls out a boombox and connects the sound to the Arctic Base's PA system.

"Let's pop in something I burned together just for this kind of occasion." Chad says, putting in a CD. Patton gears up and hands the other trackers so that they can find each other in the tunnels.

While the music starts to play, the three of them make their way into the hidden tunnels in the walls, ceilings and floors. This helps them hunt down the teenagers without being spotted.

Elsewhere, two Teen Ninja girls are wandering the corridors hunting down any remaining operatives.

"Like Elsie, where is this brat?" The blonde girl, Tammy, asks.

"I don't know, Tammy, but we gotta find him, like The Steve said." The brunette named Elsie replies.

All of the sudden, they hear the music playing and begin to cringe.

"Oh god, what is this crap?" Elsie complains.

Hearing them whine through a vent, Patton pops out and shoots the both with a customized SPICER which blinds the two teenagers; before he gets back inside and keeps moving.

_Strange days have found us_

_Strange days have tracked us down_

Chad looks through a vent and hears three teenagers talking.

"God, why do these little shits have such bad taste in music. Chad's a traitor but even HE doesn't listen to this crap." One of them whines.

"Oh you're right about that." Another one comments.

"No he's not." Chad pops out to surprise them.

_They're going to destroy_

_Our casual joys._

_We shall go on playing_

_Or find a new town._

Before they can take aim, Chad triggers an electric booby trap that immobilizes the three Ninjaz and hops back into the tunnels to hunt down more teenagers.

_Strange eyes fill strange rooms_

_Voices will signal their tired end_

Maurice is able to work his way through the tunnels with ease. And located another large group of Ninjaz right below him.

_The hostess is grinning_

_Her guests sleep from sinning_

_Hear me talk of sin_

_And you know this is it._

To cut off their escape route, Maurice sets off explosives which opens up a giant hole underneath them and also buries a large mound of snow on top of them.

_Strange days have found us_

As they each pick off their enemies, eventually the three of them manage to meet back up in the main chamber.

_And through their strange hours_

_We linger alone,_

_Bodies confused,_

A couple remaining teenagers attempt to attack them, but are more than easily subdued.

_Memories misused,_

_As we run from the day_

_To a strange night of stone._

* * *

"Okay, I think we got most of them. I didn't see The Steve though." Chad comments.

"Maybe he got a…" Before Maurice can finish his thought. The music suddenly cuts off.

"You crazy bastards. You think you can take me on. I'm the Steve. Ain't nobody can fuck with me." The Steve shouts over the intercom. The three operatives realize where they are standing and back away 10 extra feet from each other.

"If y'all wanna fight me. Come find me." The Steve boasts.

"Whatever you say, asshole." Patton quips. He then pulls out a small detonator and hits the button in it. This causes the ceiling to explode and for The Steve to come crashing through, as Patton's office was right above them. When The Steve pulls himself together, he looks up to see Patton pointing a SPICER in his face.

"Stand up." Patton orders, but the teenager doesn't budge.

"Yeah, like I'd ever take orders from a…" He is then kicked in the face and pulled to his feet by Chad.

"Stand the fuck up and look at me." Chad pins the teen to a wall.

"Now listen, I'm gonna ask you some questions. And I want them answered immediately. What was your plan here? And who told you guys I was in the KND?" Chad asks.

"We was always watching you, buddy boy. Cree managed to find out you was still working with those brats." The Steve answers.

"That sadist bitch. Do you know where she is now?" Chad asks, wanting to hunt her down.

"I got no idea. We ain't seen her in months. But… she did give me a little something, something before she ran off." The Steve jokes.

"This isn't the time for jokes ya tool. Now tell why you attacked the Base." Chad demands.

"For him." The Steve points his head towards Patton.

"Why did you want me?" Patton asks.

"For the master plan. Father wants you brats gone." The Steve.

"Yeah we know that, but how?" Patton presses further.

"Ya stupid little bastard. Nothing you do can make me tell you." The Steve boasts. Chad looks at Patton and Maurice with a slight smirk.

"So we're bastards, eh?" Maurice asks sarcastically.

"You guys MAY wanna leave the room for this." Chad pulls out a pair scissors and a marker. Taking note, Patton and Maurice leave the room and wait for Chad to finish. For the next ten minutes, all they hear in the other room is the Steve's cries of despair.

Chad then walks into the room and shows them what he did to the Steve. The Steve is crying over his broken sunglasses and the beautiful that Chad completely cut off. Across his head is the phrase: "This is what the Basterdz do to Villains."

"What did he tell you? And why did you spell bastards like that?" Patton asks, laughing at the Steve.

"They're sending Villains all over the globe to find KND operatives and Delightfulize them. Our mission is to hunt them down before they can do that. And I spelled it wrong because we know it'll screw with their heads and distract them. It'll come in handy for what we have to do. What to say? Basterdz?" Chad puts his hand out.

"Basterdz." Maurice puts his hand in.

"Basterdz." Patton puts his hand in.

"Now how do we explain this to Global Command?" Patton asks.

"I'm due time, Patton. But first let's lay low for the night. We're gonna need rest, because we're gonna start finding the Villains tomorrow." Chad informs him.

"Well, let's just head back to my place. We'll be safe there." Maurice says.

The three of them exit the base, but not before blinding The Steve with a SPICER blast, to prevent him from escaping.

They all make their way back to Chad's ship and take off into the night sky.

* * *

**End of the chapter. It took me a while to figure out the role of the Basterdz in this story, but I like what I was able to come up with, and I hope you do too. The next chapter is going to be about Fanny helping Sector W defend their treehouse. An old enemy will be returning for that chapter. Until the next update, happy reading!**

**P.S. The song used in the story was "Strange Days" by The Doors. I've been listening to The Doors nonstop throughout the pandemic.**


	19. Sector W Treehouse

**Sector W Treehouse**

* * *

Meanwhile at the Sector W treehouse, the four operatives within the treehouse are now backed into a corner by a group of 3 teenagers.

"What do we now, Numbuh 83?" Numbuh 85 asks nervously.

"I don't know, I just hope the backup gets here on time." Numbuh 83 replies. The leader of the attack grabs Numbuh 83 by her collar and pulls her close.

"They're not gonna get here on time. You brats are done for." The girl threatens, she then turns to the teen boys alongside her. "Take them to a dark basement, until we can figure out what to do with them." She orders.

"Sure thing. Come here baghead." As the teenager lifts up Numbuh 85, he is suddenly shot with GUMZOOKA. He looks up to see Numbuh 86 standing on the side of the room, staring at the teenagers with anger.

"Get away from me brother, asshole." She hisses.

"Fanny?" 85 asks, happy to see his sister come to his rescue.

"Are you alright, Paddy?" She asks.

"No, please help us." Paddy replies.

Hearing the familiar voice, the teenage girl turns around to reveal her face to 86. It's the former Numbuh 12. Recognizing her, 86 stares at her in shock and anger.

"Hi, Fanny." She says in a sweet tone.

"Numbuh 12, it's you." Fanny says, trying to hide her anger and sadness.

"Sweetheart, the name's Karen. And I'm not here for you. I'm here for them." She states.

"What do you want with us, ya freak?" Harvey barks.

"It's not what I want, it's what Father wants with them." Karen boasts.

"I don't care what Father wants, you're not taking them. Now leave this place, while you still have a chance." Fanny warns her.

"Oh Fanny, how I've missed you. I don't wanna fight you, in fact I have a deal for you." Karen states.

"What deal?" Fanny asks curiously.

"You're not actually considering a deal with her are you?!" Paddy asks.

"No, I'm not. I'm merely curious about what she has to say." Fanny replies.

"You may consider it, after what I'm going to tell you." Karen interjects.

"Get on with it then. You're trying my patience."

"Come with me. We're going to Delighfulize all the Kids Next Door. But if you help me out, you won't have to be. It'll be like old times again, Fanny. You're still my friend, right?" Karen offers.

"No! I'll never join you! The last time I fought alongside you, you embarrassed me! The only time I want to be around you is when I arrest you and decommission your lying ass!" Fanny shouts, though Karen does not seem terribly upset by this.

"That's a shame, Fanny. I was really looking forward to having you by my side again. Trust me, my life is better as a Teen Ninja than it ever was in the KND. Yours will be too. Don't remember that sleepover? Remember how I was the only one who wanted to be your friend?" Karen is now striking nerves with Fanny, barely able to restrain herself.

"Things change. You don't know what I've done since then. My life is better than you could ever know. Don't you DARE try to say it's not." Fanny snaps. Karen still stares her down, though her facial expressions read defeat and anger.

"You'll come around, Fanny. But for now…" Suddenly she shoots the GUMZOOKA out of Fanny's hands with a wrist rocket. She then takes off using rocket boots to take off to a Teen ship above the treehouse. "I'll see you later, Fanny! Come on guys!"

She signals for the Teen boys to follow her to the ship. They grab the four young operatives, but Fanny picks herself back and shoots them down so the duo can't escape.

"You boys, aren't going anywhere." Fanny hisses. She then gathers the other operatives to help them escape. When she grabs Harvey, he flinches and swats her hand away.

"Hey! I still don't like being…" Fanny then slaps him in the face.

"I'm here to save your life, not here you bitch about not being touched. So shut and run!" She barks, and he gets running almost immediately.

As Fanny gets the four operatives out, the two teen boys begin chasing them. Thinking quickly Lee uses his yo-yos to trip up the pair of them. Unfortunately, they both hit their heads on wall switches. One of them locks a door and the other turns the lights out in the room. It is now almost completely pitch black.

"Oh shit." Lee says to himself, knowing what is about to happen.

"I don't… like… the DAAARRRRK!" Everyone hears Sonia scream. The next thing anyone hears is Sonia's berserker rage yell, followed by cries of extreme agony by the two teen boys.

Lee manages to find the switch and turns the lights back on. All KND operatives look at Sonia in shock upon seeing how horribly mutilated the teenagers are. One of them is missing all of his teeth and eyes are swollen shut. The other one's legs and arms are broken in three places each.

"Jesus Christ, Sonia!" Paddy yells in surprise.

"You guys know I don't like the dark." Sonia defends.

"Yeah but just… holy shit." Harvey is at a loss for words at seeing how violent Sonia can truly be.

"Well it doesn't, let's get outta here. I'm taking you guys to the Moonbase. I'm not leaving you guys alone until we're safe there." Fanny says, leading them all to her ship. As they are led into the ship, Paddy is last but does not get in yet.

"Paddy, what are you doing? Get in." Fanny orders.

"What about Shaunie? Do you think she'll go after him?" Paddy asks, concerned for their younger brother.

"I don't think so. He's at the house right now, and I'm pretty sure Dad is there right now. He'll be safe for now. I'll pick him up later and bring him to the Moonbase." Fanny says, calming her brother down.

As Paddy gets in, Fanny becomes nervous when she notices that Karen escaped in her ship. "I hope he's safe. If she hurts one hair in his head, she'll wish she never knew me." Fanny then gets in the pilot's seat and flies all of Sector W up to the Moonbase. The Sector W treehouse was no longer safe for the KND.

* * *

**End of the Chapter. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I decided to name the ex-Numbuh 12, Karen DeVos. Seemed like a fitting name for a character like her. And YES, I know what I'm referencing with that.**

**The next chapter is going to the Teenz attack in the Sector V treehouse. That will lead to a subplot of Hoagie, because it's been too long since he's been in the story and I need to introduce the Air Berets into the story. Until then, happy reading.**


	20. Attack in Sector V

**Attack on Sector V**

* * *

In her ship, Numbuh 5 speeds towards the Sector V treehouse in order to help her old comrades.

"I already let one teenager hurt you, Hoagie. And I ain't gonna let it happen again." Numbuh 5 says to herself, hoping to get to the treehouse before it's too late.

* * *

Meanwhile in the treehouse, Numbuh 2 is using his FLAPPUH to be able to drop his taser bombs on the attack teens.

While he does that, Numbuh 3 uses her athleticism to jump around and distract other teens, while Numbuh 4 manages to attack them when they don't look.

When Numbuh 5 arrives, there are only a handful of Teen Ninjaz remaining.

"Alright, teens. Get ready for the ass whoopin' of your lives!" Numbuh 5 shouts as she charges them with a SPLANKER.

As she helps defend the treehouse, she comes face to face with Stacey Conway.

"Oh look, guys. It's Cree Lincoln's little Mini-Me." Stacey.

"Shut up, don't mention Cree to me." Numbuh 5 threatens.

"What's wrong? Big mean sister scares you?" She taunts further.

"Bitch… I am warning you for the last time." Numbuh 5 threatens.

"Or are you afraid that your little boyfriend's gonna get hurt?" Stacey says as she sees that Chuckie Cavallaro has disabled Numbuh 2's FLAPPUH. As Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 4 run over to help Numbuh 2, Numbuh 5 dives on top of Stacey.

"Not as afraid as you should be right now." Numbuh 5 replies.

She then lays down a beating onto Stacey. She repeatedly SPLANKER's Stacey in the face, to the point where she's missing teeth. As Stacey tries to stand up, Numbuh 5 just kicks her back down repeatedly. As the others stare on in shock, a teen boy tackles Numbuh 5 to the ground, while another leads Stacey onto an escape ship.

Numbuh 5 manages to get the other teen of her by kicking him in the face and scaring him back onto his ship.

"Don't worry, baby. Abby's coming." Numbuh 5 then rushes over to help the others.

Numbuh 2 activates Chuckie's rocket boots and the two take off flying into Numbuh 2's room.

"Yo, get off of me ya fat fuck." Chuckie snaps.

Numbuh 2 then uses one of his taser bombs to short circuit Chuckie's boots. This sends the two of them flying in opposite ends of the room. Chuckie crashes into a wall and onto the floor. Numbuh 2 lands on a small backpack rocket.

"Alright asshole, let's see you try to take this down." He says to himself. He straps in and launches it up. Unfortunately for him, Chuckie is prepared for this and hits his backpack with his arm cannon.

The other three rush into the room to help save Numbuh 2 by diving onto top of Chuckie, but it's too late. The damage sustained sends the backpack flying out of control and eventually into flies out of the room and explodes. Though he managed to bail out and parachute in time, Numbuh 2 is now in the middle of the woods, far from the treehouse.

"Oh man. Now how am I gonna get back.?" He asks himself. Just then, he notices something mysterious appear in the sky, as if it were alien.

"On second thought, I better get home to Mom and Tommy." He says, choosing to check to see if his family is safe.

* * *

Back at the treehouse, Numbuh 5 stares out the window in complete shock and sadness. "Hoagie, I'm sorry." She says to herself, tears streaming down her face.

"Numbuh 5 listen… we'll find him. I'm sure he'll be fine until then." Numbuh 4 attempts to console her, Tom I avail.

"I promised I'd never anything happen to him, and I let that happen to him. I'm a terrible girlfriend." She breaks down into Numbuh 3's arms.

"He's just some fat loser, you'll get over." Chuckie stupidly comments. This causes Numbuh 5 to stop crying and stare at him with bloodlust in her eyes. Taking note of this, Numbuh 4 takes Numbuh 3's hand.

"Let's… give her a minute, Kuki." Numbuh 4 "suggests."

"Yeah." Numbuh 3 follows him out of the room.

"What… did you just… fucking say to me?" Numbuh 5 approaches Chuckie slowly.

"I said you'll…" Before he can finish, Numbuh 5 kicks him in the face, breaking his nose. He cries in pain as Numbuh 5 grabs him by the hair.

"Ah, please don't kill me." Chuckie begs. Numbuh 5 looks over at a set of stares and smirks.

"Oh no, Numbuh 5 ain't letting you off that easy, boy." Numbuh 5 states.

Outside the room, Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 4 wait for Numbuh 5 to finish up with Chuckie. Numbuh 3 seems just as said as Numbuh 5 about Numbuh 2.

"Should we go out and find him? I'm scared."

"It'll be okay. If anything, he's on his way back here right now. He'll be just fine." Numbuh 4 consoles.

"But I don't wanna lose him like we lost Numbuh 1." Numbuh 3 says.

"We didn't lose Numbuh 1. Numbuh 362 and Sector Z are out there looking for him right now. And hey, if you're worried… how about a little music." Numbuh 4 offers.

"Music?"

"Yeah like when…" Before Numbuh 4 can finish his sentence, he hears a girlish scream come from Numbuh 2's room. Fearing the worst, he rushes in to save her, only to find her standing alone by a ledge.

"Um… Numbuh 5, are you okay?" Numbuh 4 puts a hand on her shoulder. "Abby?"

Numbuh 5 then directs him towards the sky, where they see something alien appear.

"Oh shit." Numbuh 4 says, staring in shock.

"Let's get Numbuh 3, we gotta get to the Moonbase." Numbuh 5 orders.

"But what about Numbuh 2 and that teenage asshole?" Numbuh 4 questions. Numbuh 5 directs his attention to ground, where he sees a badly wounded Chuckie limping away.

"I'm gonna look for Numbuh 2 after that. He's my responsibility." Numbuh 5 states.

As they board Numbuh 5's ship, Numbuh 3 follows them on board. Numbuh 5's ship takes off towards the Moonbase to deal with this new potential threat.

* * *

**End of the chapter. Glad that I took some time to think about this chapter. I needed a small break from this and "As Time Goes By". Hopefully you all enjoyed reading this. The next chapter is going to be back on the Moonbase. After that, I am going to go back to space with Sector Z. Until then, happy reading!**


	21. The War Begins

Arriving at the Moonbase, Numbuh 5 pulls out her communicator. "86, this is Numbuh 5. As soon as you get Sector W, get 'em up here with you." Numbuh 5 orders.

"On my way up, Numbuh 5." Numbuh 86 replies.

"Arctic Base, this Numbuh 5 come in." There is no reply.

"Arctic Base, do you copy? Patton, Maurice, Chad. Someone answer, goddammit!" Numbuh 5 grows frustrated.

"I read you, Abigail." Maurice answers over the radio.

"There you are. Whalers the hell are you guys?!" She demands.

"Well, the three of us have charted a new course in our mission. Arctic Base is compromised and in ruins because of the Teenz." Maurice explains, much to Numbuh 5's surprise.

"Is… is everyone okay?" Numbuh 5 asks, holding back tears.

"Everyone got out of there fine, Chad's fine, Patton's fine, but there are some Teenz who DEFINITELY won't be bothering us now. The Steve is too shaken up to do anything useful beyond what he told us." Maurice says.

"What'd he tell you?" Numbuh 5 asks

"Villains hidden throughout the world. Me, Chad, and Patton will hunt them down for you." Maurice explains.

"You guys know Numbuh 5 can't help find a rogue group." Numbuh 5 says.

"Abby, don't think of us a rogue. Think of it as black ops, for which you have deniability. We are calling ourselves the Basterdz. Anything happens, and it's on us, not you." Chad explains.

"But guys, you do know about that ship that appeared from the sky right?"

"I know what it is. It's a Galactic battlecruiser. If there are any Galactic operatives we'll hunt them down, too. Believe me." Chad says.

"Oh I believe you. And… in your travels. Can you find Hoagie? He's missing because of that asshole, Chuckie. I don't want my sweetheart out there alone."

Numbuh 5 requests.

"We'll try to find him, Abby. But I have this request to ask of you. If you can, warn Sector Z to stay away. It's not safe for Nigel." Chad requests.

"Why ain't it safe?" Numbuh 5 asks suspiciously.

"They're gonna try to brainwash him. And I'm watching some news about villains spreading lies about him. Help the KND know that Nigel's a good person, make it a safe haven for him again." Chad requests.

"Thank you, Chad. I'll keep that in mind." Numbuh 5 ends the communication and goes over to the monitor. She sees several channels where adults are lying about the KND, Galactic, and Numbuh 1.

Soon after, Numbuh 86 walks into the room with Sector W.

"Numbuh 5, they're all safe. And… what's the matter?" She asks, noticing how visibly upset Abby is.

"Those dumb motherfuckers on the tube are saying lies about Numbuh 1." Numbuh 4 informs her.

Numbuh 86 walks over to the TV and sees that one of the villains is her dad.

_Yeah those Kids Next Door brats have always been a problem, especially that Nigel Uno. I always knew he wasn't right in the head. He even tries to kidnap my own son._

Fanny, flips the channel, appalled at what Mr. Boss said. She flips it to see Numbuh 10 arguing with Jimmy Nixon McGarfield on her show.

(Numbuh 10)

_My cousin isn't a murderer, he's loyal to the KND. He'd never allow this to happen!_

(Jimmy)

_Dalia, my dear, how well do you actually know your cousin? Are you just trying to sound good for a story. You know that your cousin's paranoid. He plans to destroy us all._

(Numbuh 10)

_Okay, THREE THINGS! 1. Don't ever address me as, my dear again, ya misogynistic prick. 2. You have no right to judge what he does. 3. If it is true and he wants us all dead, I hope your death is slow and really goddamn painful!_

They turn the TV off and stare at each other.

"Well, now we need to move forward with a new plan." Numbuh 5 informs everyone in the room.

"Mine is to get my brothers and myself to our mom's. I can't believe my dad would say that." Numbuh 86 says, shedding tears.

"We're gonna finally live with mom?!" Paddy is excited.

"Yes we are. But while on duty, I want you and Sector W to remain here. Treehouse won't be safe to go back to." Numbuh 86 informs the group.

"I agree, same with you, Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 4." Numbuh 5 says, agreeing with 86's thought process.

"And for your stuff, I'll go down and get it all when I get Shaunie. I'll… wait a minute." Numbuh 86 pauses and turns around to Numbuh 5. "Why didn't you say, Numbuh 2? Where is he?" She asks, very worried. Numbuh 5 begins to tear up as she leads 86 into another room.

* * *

"What's going on, Abby?"

"I don't know where he is. He went missing because of some Teenz." Abby explains, causing Fanny to hug her, with tears running down both of their faces.

"I'm sorry, Fanny. I know you cared about him, too." Abby is genuine in her apology.

"First we lose Nigel, now Hoagie!" Fanny is now hysterical.

"I know, I'm sorry I couldn't protect him!"

"Don't blame yourself, Abby. It's not your fault." Fanny tries to calm her down, to little avail.

"It is my fault. After the Cree incident, I promised never to let ANYONE hurt my Hoagie, and now I don't even know where he is. I just hope the Basterdz find him before anyone else does."

"Basterdz?" Fanny asks curiously.

"Chad, Patton, and Maurice have a new black ops mission. Hunt down the Earth and space villains hidden throughout the globe. They promised to look for Hoagie in their travels, and I promised to keep Sector Z away until it's safe." Abby explains.

"This was supposed to be a simple retrieval mission, and NOW look what it's become! We can't even get Nigel back! Propaganda is spreading! We need black ops groups! This… SUCKS!" Fanny is now completely angry.

"I know it sucks. But, I do need to ask you something. Is it true what Hoagie said about you, him, and Nigel?" She asks.

"Yes, it's true. I did at one point have a crush on Nigel. We were the best of friends, until someone found a love letter I wrote. Don't worry I don't want to take Hoagie from you, or Nigel from Rachel. I do care about them a great deal, but I don't want to ruin a good thing." Fanny informs a now calm Abby.

"Thank you for telling me, girl. Can I assume this is the second time you've had this type of conversation?" Abby asks.

"Yes, yes it is." Fanny sighs.

"Listen, I'm glad you've taken this turn around in your life. You're a good person for doing it. Do what you need to do to protect your brothers and Sector W. Then come back to help me think of a plan to fight Galactic." Abby says.

"Thank, Abby. I'll be back as soon as I can." Fanny salutes and leaves the office. As she leaves, Abby lets out a sigh before receiving an in incoming message.

"Numbuh 5 knows who this has gotta be." She says to herself before answering it.

"Numbuh 5 come in, this is Sector Z. We got him, we're coming home."

"It's not safe for you right now."

"What are you saying?" Ashley asks, confused.

"Don't come home." Abby then cuts the feed and lets out tears, before she collects herself.

"Alright, now it begins." Abby says to herself as she leaves her office to join the others and think of a new war strategy.

* * *

**End of the chapter. A lot to unpack here. The KND is now divided up into teams, the reason Numbuh 5 told Sector Z to stay in space is revealed, and now the main superpowers are all fighting each other. The next chapter is going to be back in space. Until then, happy reading!**


	22. Safe Haven

In their spaceship, Sector Z stares at the screen in utter shock.

"What the fuck?!" Bruce shouts in disbelief.

"I… I don't understand. What's going down there for it not to be safe for us?" Nigel asks. Constance grabs a remote and turns on the news to see a Galactic warship on Earth, spreading a message.

_Humans of Earth, the virus is now beyond our control. You are all now under quarantine, and to be disposed of if infection becomes dangerous enough._

Nigel stares at the screen, clenching his fists in rage.

Constance flips the channel to the Toiletnator on TV.

_Apparently this is the work of Nigel Uno. He did this to impress the space Kids Next Door. Chad Dickson told us._

Nigel then collapses into Rachel's arms and begins to tear up.

"Chad said that?! Because I rejected him?!" Nigel cries out.

Constance flips over to another station. This one has Mega Mom and Destructo Dad on it.

_Our son, Chad was corrupted by those Kids Next Door. That famous Nigel Uno even turned him gay, just to break his heart. Now they're teaming up with space terrorists to kill us. Now there's a rumor that he is somewhere on Earth bunting down the Villains instead of helping his flesh and blood._

"Well, I don't think he sold you out. I think the Villains are just spreading propaganda. They're mad about Galactic and probably taking it out on the one operative they can do anything about." Constance suggests.

"I agree, they clearly don't have the facts right. I mean we wouldn't team with Galactic but… that also means Chad would already have to be back on Earth. Glad he made it, but I don't know about him hunting down villains. Let's see what else there is." David says taking the remote and flipping the station.

The next station they flip to features the Common Cold.

_If Nigel Uno wants to rid the world of dangerous diseases, why doesn't he start with a cold? Why try to eliminate all adults with a terrorist cult?_

David turns off the TV and turns back to Nigel, who has not calmed down in any way. He excuses himself to another part of the ship and curls up in a ball.

"Nigel you idiot, you fucking idiot! This is all your fault! Why did you EVER join Galactic! You could've said no!" He angrily berates himself and closes his eyes.

_Good, Nigel._

Hearing the voice, it seems odd but familiar. Nigel opens his eyes to see that he is surrounded by complete darkness.

_Good, Nigel. Embrace the darkness within._

"Who are you?" Nigel nervously asks.

_I can be your greatest ally, just accept what you are._

"No, go away! Leave me alone! You don't know me!" Nigel closes his eyes. When he opens them he feels someone shaking him.

* * *

"Nigel, Nigel!" Nigel looks up to Rachel standing over him. "Nigel, are you okay?" She asks.

"No, I'm not!" He then throws himself into her arms and lets the tears flow. "This is my fault. I should've said no when I was offered, Galactic! This never would've happened! Now Earth is in danger, and everyone probably hates me now!"

Rachel hugs him tighter and gives him a kiss on the forehead.

"This is not your fault. This was inevitable, if not you it likely would be Chad they're pinning this bullshit on. Besides, NONE of them seem to have all the facts. They're just rambling about something they don't fully understand. Besides… I highly doubt everyone hates you." Rachel says, attempting to calm him down.

"You think so?" Nigel asks.

"I'm certain of it. If Chad went back there, it's because the escape pod is set to return to the Moonbase. He definitely told Numbuhs 5 and 86 what has happened. They definitely are telling what is needed to the Sectors and to the news outlet, which fortunately is consistently reliable." Rachel explains. "And if you don't believe… Bruce." She signals for Bruce to turn on the TV and flip over to KNN.

On KNN, Nigel sees his cousin talking about statements made by Numbuh 5.

_So in closing, Sector leaders are to report immediately to the Moonbase. Numbuhs 5 and 86 will give further details on the truth about the terrorists calling themselves Galactic Kids Next Door. How Numbuh 1 is not to blame for ANY of this. This is Numbuh 10 with KNN, signing off._

Bruce flips off the TV, and sees that Nigel has a smile on his face.

"Well, at least Dalia and Abby know the truth. Though I'm surprised that 86 would vouch for me." Nigel quips.

"There's a lot about Fanny that would surprise, but we can discuss that another time. Right now, we need a safe haven." Rachel states.

"Are there any planets that would welcome you and would be safe for us?" Lenny asks Nigel.

"There is one that I can think of, it's called Pegasi. There are people I've met who are allies to me. We could lay low there." Nigel suggests.

"Very well then, Pegasi it is. We'll look it up on that star map. Why don't you take a rest, Nigel." Ashley says as she walks over to the pilot seat.

"Okay then. Thank you." Nigel says. As he walks over to a bed and lies down, he notices Rachel sitting down next to him.

"Do you mind if I join you?" She asks.

"Not at all." He says, making room for her to lie down. "It's nice to know that I'm not alone."

"You don't need to worry about that. We have them… and each other." Rachel says, wrapping her arms around the sleeping Nigel. As she drifts off to sleep alongside him, she whispers, "Sleep well, Nigel."

Allowing them their privacy, David shuts the privacy door and makes his way back towards the deck.

"They are out like lights." He remarks to Ashley.

"Let them be. We'll take our time getting to Pegasi." Ashley says.

As she punches in the coordinates, the shift drifts towards Pegasi, the future safe haven for Sector Z.

* * *

**End of the chapter. Glad to return to writing space chapters, as well as knowing what I plan for for Sector Z to do out in space. Hope you all enjoyed this brief chapter.**

**PS. This is not the first time I've used the planet, Pegasi. I referenced it in my other G:KND story, "The Thorns in Our Side", but I'm actually going to have chapters focused on it.**


	23. Pegasi

Arriving at the planet of Pegasi, Ashley slows down as they enter the atmosphere.

Bruce goes in the back to wake up Nigel and Rachel.

"Hey, lovebirds. We're here." Bruce says. The two of them rub their eyes and make their way to the front of the ship.

"So this is Pegasi, Nigel?" Rachel asks.

"Yes it is. God it's been a while since I've been here." Nigel says, admiring the beauty of the planet.

The planet is mostly plains, mountains and ocean. Their cities are built within the massive trees within.

As they fly, two airships begin to tail them. On the monitor, an alien appears. The alien has a brown pot on it's head, white eyes, and vine like tentacles.

"Alien ship, state your presence." The alien orders. Nigel approaches the camera, appearing to recognize the alien.

"Numbuh Vine, it's me." He says.

"Numbuh 1? What brings you to Pegasi?" Numbuh Vine asks with curiosity.

"We're in big fucking trouble, and we need a safe haven for the time being." Nigel says, much to Numbuh Vine's shock.

"Well… come to the headquarters. I'll lead you there." Numbuh Vine says.

"Thank you." Nigel says. The video monitor shuts off

"Well it's good that you have a friend here, Nigel. This Numbuh Vine seems like she knows what she's doing." Lenny says.

"That she does. That's why I knew that we could use this place as a safe haven. Galactic won't hunt us down here." Nigel says.

Ashley follows Numbuh Vine into the hangar bay, where Sector Z piles out of the ship.

Numbuh Vine gets out of her ship and salutes Nigel.

"Numbuh 1, it's good to see you again. Who are the rest of them?" Numbuh Vine asks, addressing the remainder of Sector Z.

"Well I'm Numbuh 362, Rachel McKenzie and…" Rachel begins to explain.

"YOU'RE Rachel McKenzie?" Numbuh Vine asks.

"Yeah. I was KND Supreme Leader." She confirms.

"Numbuh 1's told me so much about you." Numbuh Vine says, before turning to Sector Z. "Now, let me guess… Sector Z, right?"

"How'd you guess?" Bruce asks.

"Oh you guys aren't the only ones Nigel has mentioned. He's mentioned villains, operatives, the whole nine yards." Numbuh Vine explains.

"Well that's good. Now I have to ask, may we stay on Pegasi for the time being?" Rachel asks.

"Absolutely. I'll just just bring you to our leader. He'll be wanting to meet you guys." Numbuh Vine leads them to another section of the building.

Inside, they reach an office that says Numbuh Sage on it.

"Numbuh Sage? It's me." Numbuh Vine says. Another alien turns around to face her. This one has a red pot, yellow eyes, and sage like tentacles.

"Hello, Numbuh Vine." He salutes.

"Numbuh Sage, this is Numbuh 1 and Sector Z." She introduces them to her Supreme Leader.

"Hello, Numbuh 1. It's good to finally meet you. Numbuh Vine's told me so much about you. And it's good to know who helped you out of that prison." Numbuh Sage says, much to everyone's surprise.

"How do you know about the prison break?" Bruce asks.

"Numbuh 9L is here. She told me about what happened. After the prison was destroyed, she came here." Numbuh Sage explains.

"That's… that's great. Can we see her?" Nigel asks.

"Absolutely you can. She'll be near the same chambers you are. And before you ask, we keep tabs on planets friendly to Pegasi, so we know why you have come. Stay as long as you need to." Numbuh Sage explains to them.

"Thank you, Numbuh Sage. We are beyond grateful for your hospitality." Rachel says.

"You're welcome." Numbuh Sage hits a buzzer. "Numbuh Palm, could you please show our guests to their quarters?" He requests.

"Absolutely, sir. Coming right now." The alien, Numbuh Palm, arrives in Numbuh Sage's office. She has a yellow pot, green eyes, and palm leaf like tentacles.

"Hello earthlings, I am Numbuh Palm. If you'll follow me, I'll show you where you will be staying." Numbuh Palm instructs, leading Sector Z out of Numbuh Sage's office.

"You were right, Daisy." Numbuh Vine says, under her breath.

"Who's Daisy?" Numbuh Sage asks.

"Oh you heard. Well, Daisy was someone I met long ago." Numbuh Vine answers.

"Oh yeah, the time traveler."

"Yep. And she was right, Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 362 are happy together." Numbuh Vine states.

"Yeah Numbuh 9L said she was with them and that she loved, but which one was she?" Numbuh Sage asks.

"She was the one with the Mohawk. In fact I almost didn't recognize her at first. Last time I saw her, she didn't have that." She answers.

"Well that's good, because at least Galactic doesn't recognize her. And those others that were with them were that Sector that was delightfulized, is that right word?"

"Yeah they were at one point known as the Delightful Children from Down the Lane. Maybe they finally came up with a way to fix them." Numbuh Vine says.

"Well that's good. And listen, I know you two have a history together and I'm sorry with what you went through. But she's there for him and I'm here for you." Numbuh Sage says in a comforting tone.

"Thank you. I can't imagine how it must've been for you here without me. But you're right, we're here for each other now and nothing's going to change that." Numbuh Vine says.

"I'm glad. Come, let's go and have some dinner." They lock tentacles and proceed to go have dinner.

* * *

Elsewhere, Numbuh Palm leads Sector Z to the living quarters.

"Now here we are… ah, Numbuh 9L." Numbuh Palm gets Numbuh 9L's attention, who immediately spots Nigel.

"My baby!" Numbuh 9L rushes over and hugs Nigel close to her.

"Good to see you two, Numbuh 9L." Nigel says, struggling to breathe.

"How'd you get out of that prison riot?" Rachel asks curiously.

"I had Numbuh Palm come look for me. Because all the ships were destroyed, and I needed a safe haven." Numbuh 9L explains.

"Well it's good that we have multiple allies while things calm down on Earth." David says.

"That's good. Why don't we talk about this tomorrow, I think we could all use some rest." Ashley suggests.

"Agreed. I haven't slept since we got Nigel and Chad, I'm fucking exhausted." Lenny says.

"We all are, buddy." Constance adds.

"Well, why don't I lead you to your beds. Your stuff will be brought to you later." Numbuh Palm says.

"Thanks, Numbuh Palm." David says.

As they are shown to their beds, they all lay down to sleep. Wanting to stay close to each other, Nigel and Rachel sleep in the same bed. Numbuh 9L stays very close to Nigel, still immensely protective of him.

"We're safe, Nigel. This is going to be good for us." Rachel says as she drifts off to sleep.

"Yes, we're safe… for now." Nigel says before he too drifts off to sleep.

As she watches the two of them, Numbuh 9L thinks to herself, "If they show up here to hurt my baby, they're gonna wish they were never born."

* * *

**End of the chapter. It's been awhile since I've updated this story, but I'm glad to have done. I've actually used Numbuh Sage in another continuity, but I think I can make better use of him here. I'm also glad that I finally got to write what Pegasi looks like. The next chapter is going to be about Hoagie and the forming of the Air Berets. Until then, happy reading.**


	24. The Air Berets

Waking up, Hoagie is hurt but still able to walk. He gets up to find that his jet pack is damaged.

"Ah, son a bitch." Hoagie licks the ruined technology before wandering out of the woods. He looks up into the sky, when he sees the Galactic ships appearing.

"Oh no." Fearing the worst, he immediately proceeds to sprint back to his house and hope to find his family there.

Rushing into his house, he becomes worried when nobody is around. "Hello? Mom? Grandma? Tommy?"

"Hoagie? What's the matter?" Tommy asks curiously, before he is hugged tightly by Hoagie.

"Oh thank God you're safe." Hoagie says.

"I'm fine, what's going on?" Tommy asks.

Hoagie takes Tommy to the window, where Tommy sees the alien ships coming from the sky.

"Um… what?" Tommy is a loss for words as he is now scared for his life.

"I know what I'm planning, but I need you and two other people for it to work. I need you to pack bags of clothes and supplies and meet me in the garage." Hoagie demands.

"But Hoagie-"

"Tommy, please just do what I ask." Hoagie pleads as he runs off to his room to pack a bag.

As Tommy packs a bag, he can't help but feel nervous about what Hoagie plans to do. After he has packed the necessary gear, he goes into Hoagie's room.

"I'm ready to… Hoagie are you okay?" Tommy sees Hoagie crying as he is writing letters.

"I'm… fine. I'll be fine just give me a minute." Hoagie says.

Respecting his wishes, Tommy goes to the garage to wait for him. When Hoagie enters the garage, he has finally calmed down.

"What were those letters for?" Tommy asks him curiously.

"They're letters for mom and Abigail. I left a note saying to open it when the time is right." Hoagie explains. He then pushes a button and two planes shoot up from under the concrete.

"Wow, so what are we going to be doing with these planes, Hoagie?"

"It's part of a backup plan to help fight Galactic. If they're here that means Nigel's in danger. It also means that the Villains here are likely to lash out against the KND for not warning them. I wanna keep mom and you safe. If we disappear, KND has deniability and Villains won't go after mom. I also wrote mom and Abby the letters to let them know my plan." Hoagie explains.

"So we're not gonna see mom?" Tommy sheds a tear.

"I know it's hard. But least she'll know we're safe. Abby too." Hoagie says, hugging Tommy close to him.

"So, who are we going to go see, other KND agents?" Tommy asks.

"No. You'll see when we meet them." Hoagie says. The two of them then take off from their garage.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ace Ferrara is flying in a small jet that matches that of his girlfriend, Henrietta von Marzipan. As they are cruising in the sky, they notice an alien ship that Ace promptly shoots down as it nears him.

"What was zat, mein darling?" Henrietta asks.

"I don't know, but let's get down there and check it out." Ace says. The two land their jets and proceed to inspect the ship, but before they can get close, it self-destructs.

"Well, all we can do now is look through ze rubble." Henrietta suggests.

As they look at the markings on the ship, they realize that whatever was flying the ship was not human.

"Do we tell someone?" Henrietta asks.

Before Ace can answer, a call comes in on his radio.

"_Ace, do you copy? This is Hoagie Gilligan. Come in, Ace."_

Ace goes to answer the radio.

"I read you, Hoagie. What's happening?" Ace asks.

"_Shit's gonna be hittin' the fan pretty bad for a while. I need to meet up with you and Henrietta."_

"Well I'll have to do it later, esé. We're checking this weird ship that I shot down." Ace states.

"_Tell me where you are and I'll help. This is pretty goddamn important."_

Ten minutes later, Hoagie and Tommy arrive at the crash site.

"What the hell happened here?" Tommy asks.

"Zis weird started flying at us, so Ace shot it down. Where could it have come from? Zese markings, zey are not human." Henrietta answers.

"Space. They come from a supposed group known as the Galactic Kids Next Door. Though from the looks of it, they may actually be our enemies." Hoagie informs the two.

"Aliens invading Earth?! Vat is Abigail doing about zis?"

Henrietta asks.

"I don't know. I'm actually thinking that the four of us band together to fight these fuckers off. Being separated from the rest of the KND… and my family will ensure their safety and give them deniability." Hoagie says to them.

"Hmm, I like the way you think. Do Abigail or your family members know?" Ace asks.

"They'll know when the time is right. I think we should have a name to call ourselves if we want KND to have deniability. We should call ourselves… The Air Berets." Tommy suggests.

"Tommy that's… actually a really cool sounding name. Ha, ya finally got one." Hoagie says, realizing that Tommy finally thought of a clever name.

"I like it. Makes us sound like a special forces unit. Good thinking, Tomás." Ace says.

"Thanks. And to make sure our name makes sense, here wear these." Tommy hands each of them a blue beret.

"You've been anticipating using these, haven't you, Tommy?" Hoagie questions.

"Well I was saving for when I either joined Sector V or W when I was a trainee. But obviously circumstances prevented that conversation from happening." Tommy explains.

"Well in any case. It is a brilliant thought in your end, Thomas." Henrietta states.

"Thanks."

"So where do we go from here?" Ace asks.

"Well I think I can link our ships' radios and GPS up to ourselves and also find any more of these alien ships throughout the world." Hoagie explains.

As Hoagie sets everything up on the ships, he finds another massive cluster of alien ships on the radar.

"Found one! It's gonna be a long trip guys, we're going to Baghdad." Hoagie says.

"Oh great. Zat place is a war zone, even without ALIEN terrorists." Henrietta sighs.

"Hey beggars can't be choosers, and it's not like we could anticipate a GOOD place to fight terrorists in." Hoagie says.

"Fair enough, Hogarth." Henrietta says.

"Well everyone, buckle in. Our fight is in Iraq, not here." Ace says. The four pilots get into their respective jets and make their way towards the aliens invading Baghdad.

* * *

**End of the chapter. This was a hard chapter to write because it was difficult to write how The Air Berets come together, and why Hoagie formed them. The next chapter is going to be about Father recovering from the assassination attempt on him**


End file.
